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Consumers Energy outlines Campbell plant retirement timeline as residents and officials raise reliability concerns
Summary
Consumers Energy briefed Ottawa County officials on the planned retirement of the Campbell power plant, describing a multi-year decommissioning, ash-remediation plan and community engagement process. Residents and some commissioners pressed the company on grid reliability, replacement capacity and farmland siting for solar.
Consumers Energy told the Ottawa County Planning and Policy Committee that it plans to take the Campbell power plant cold and dark in May 2025 and carry out a decommissioning and remediation program extending into 2029 and beyond.
The utility said the work will include shipping coal and removing about 6 million tons of coal ash over roughly 20 years, repurposing ash as a cement replacement material and staged marine and shoreline work to avoid summer recreation conflicts. "This is a 5‑year timeline for decommissioning," a Consumers representative said.
Why it matters: County officials and residents raised questions about whether regional replacement capacity and transmission can cover the loss of Campbell’s generating capacity at peak demand. Several elected officials and members of the public urged Consumers to delay the shutdown until additional, dispatchable…
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