Couch potatoes vote for coal

Despite the shrinking economy, there are more coal power plants proposed for Michigan than for any other state.

This story in today’s Detroit Free Press provides a good overview of the proposed coal developments and the controversies related to their likely environmental impact, but the most striking comment comes from Jeff Holyfield, a spokesman for Consumers Energy.

“We’re looking out for the needs of our 1.8 million customers,” he tells reporter Tina Lam. “They’re voting with their light switches — they want more power.”

Consumer electronics and air conditioning are driving the need for more power, Holyfield elaborated to Michigan Messenger. “Plasma screen televisions use four times as much power as old-style TV’s,” he said. “Our typical residential customer today uses 8 percent more power than they did 10 years ago.”

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Todd Spencer 1 month ago 1 point
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Every pro-utility politician which is every politician in Michigan, will tell you that we need coal plants because people have plasma TVs and they use LOTS of electricity.

The next time you hear a politician say that, think of those words coming from a lobbyist first, because DTE Energy and Consumers Power lobbyists are the only ones talking this line.

It's scary how industry lobbyists line up all our elected officials and fill them with the same lines of argument why we can't have clean power. And our elected officials parrot the lines from event to event.

Plasma TVs!! Plasma TVs!

Plasma TVs will be the end of the earth if utility companies have their way.

We wonder if the world will end with a whisper or a bang. It will end with “Flavor of Love.”

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LoRayne Apo-Joynt 1 month ago 1 point
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First time I've seen a figure 8 percent increased usage by residential consumers.

Now let's see a number from the energy companies that reflects how many residential customers they've lost over the last ten years, so that we can get a more realistic idea of the need for new coal-fired power plants.

Those plasma televisions are going to become very unpopular in a hurry, too, as electricity prices escalate.

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beaware 1 month ago 1 point
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old king coal maybe when the good consumer units of lansing, detroit,tri-cities can't see across the street, or take in a lungful of fresh air because of the smut caused by burning coal will they realize that something needs to be done. I spent a week in a small, beautiful Scottish village and everything there was kind of magical really, except for the noxious fumes that came from the Residents/businesses having to burn coal. And while the air pollution was on a small scale there, I cannot fathom why we would want/need it here, and on a scale that is dumbfounding to say the least. We cram every hill in this state w/butt ugly cellular towers, and anyone who can read knows that these phones can't be made without slave labor in the mines of Africa. Are we all that egoistic that we can't do without a few million of the damn phones, and maybe replace the fugly phone towers with a few fugly windmills? And maybe put a slave driven mining co. out of work? Driving west on Hwy.2 near St. Ignace you can see several windmills in place, and in my opinion they're a lot less ugly than the cellular towers, and they can produce something beneficial for All. Coal is not the answer, it's another toxic nightmare.Thank You E &MichMess.;

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