Consumers Energy outlines Campbell plant retirement timeline as residents and officials raise reliability concerns

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 replacement capacity is confirmed.

Consumers Energy described regional assets that will remain or be added, including the Ludington pumped storage facility and a recently acquired gas plant the company says increases capacity for Michigan customers. A company presenter said the Ludington facility can deliver large amounts of power for short durations and that Consumers purchased a 1,200‑megawatt gas plant (referred to as Covert) two years ago to add capacity to MISO’s Michigan footprint.

Public commenters and some commissioners pressed the company for clearer assurances. Joseph Parnell McCarter, a Georgetown Township resident active in the Save the Campbell effort, told the committee: "Both now recommend delay of closures like the Campbell because they say our grid will be in trouble if we do not." He and other members of the public urged the county to seek delay or other remedies if Consumers will not adjust its timetable.

Consumers officials described environmental remediation steps, said they will seek to repurpose materials where possible and noted ongoing stakeholder engagement with townships, homeowners associations and state agencies. "We will ship ash by rail and repurpose it as a cement replacement material," a company representative said, and noted the company will continue management of public access areas such as the Ludington pump storage boardwalk.

County commissioners and staff asked a range of technical questions about demand forecasts, the integrated resource plan (IRP) process used to plan replacements, how MISO (the Midcontinent Independent System Operator) evaluates grid adequacy, and whether the new state clean energy law (requiring changes by 2040) influenced the timing. Consumers said the retirement and replacement choices were incorporated into its most recent IRP and that the company modeled scenarios including increased electrification and battery storage.

What remains unsettled: Commissioners asked Consumers for follow‑up detail before the committee’s next meeting, including specific net import/export figures for 2024 and clarifications about how the Covert purchase affects local resource adequacy. Several commissioners said they will bring the matter to the full Board of Commissioners for discussion and possible formal action.

Ending: Consumers Energy said it will provide additional documentation and respond to the county’s questions at the committee’s next scheduled meeting. Meanwhile local residents and officials said they will continue to press for delay or clearer, independent verification of grid reliability before Campbell is taken fully offline.