Groups ask Snyder to keep Granholm’s regulations on coal

A dozen state environmental and energy groups are asking governor-elect Rick Snyder to maintain the Granholm administration’s policy on permits for coal plants.

“We … urge you to support Michigan’s path to a clean energy future by continuing to require a thorough analysis of the need for and alternatives to new sources of power before they are built,” the Ecology Center, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, West Michigan Environmental Action Council and others said in a Dec. 22 letter to Snyder. “Coal plants are a barrier to economic progress and a hazard to public health. To attract clean energy jobs, Michigan must send a strong signal that our future lies in energy efficiency, wind, solar, advanced battery, and other clean energy technologies – not outdated, 19th-century coal.”

Last year Governor Granholm issued a controversial executive order that required prospective coal plant developers to demonstrate that they had considered whether coal is the most feasible and prudent way for meeting the state’s power needs.

This year Wolverine Power Cooperative and the Holland Board of Public Works were denied permits for new coal plants after analysis by the Michigan Public Service Commission showed that customer power demand did not justify the construction of new coal plants.

Wolverine and Holland BPW have sued the state, claiming that state law does not allow regulators to consider need as part of the permitting process.

This month an Ottawa County judge ruled that Granholm did not have the authority to require state regulators to consider need when permitting coal plants and he ordered the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environment to reconsider Holland’s permit application.

In their appeal to Snyder the groups argue that coal plant construction would harm the state by raising utility bills and discouraging investment in renewable energy.

They add:

Examining need and alternatives when it comes to the state’s energy choices will also benefit public health and help protect Michigan’s unique natural resources. Human health must be a factor when making energy decisions and take into account the fact that air and water pollution from coal plants causes health impacts such as: premature death, asthma, developmental disabilities, and cancer. Our fishing and tourism industries have already been harmed by the mercury contamination in our rivers, lakes, and streams that make our fish unsafe to eat. In addition, global climate change poses grave threats to our Great Lakes way of life, and we must take steps to minimize greenhouse gas pollution.

So far the incoming Snyder administration has not said whether it plans to defend the state’s policy on coal plant permits.