Companies applying to build coal-fired electric plants in Michigan will be asked to show they have considered cleaner alternatives, state environmental regulators said Wednesday.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said it had told developers of proposed coal plants in Holland and Rogers City to submit analyses of different possibilities within 90 days.
A similar requirement could be forthcoming for Consumers Energy's proposed 800-megawatt addition to its Karn-Weadock generating complex near Bay City. The DEQ said it would begin taking public comment on the project next Tuesday.
"We will continue our discussions with the applicants to ensure we have all of the information we need to make appropriate decisions on these projects that are consistent with state and federal law," DEQ Director Steven Chester said.
The department is operating amid crossfire between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state Attorney General Mike Cox over Granholm's recent order that the DEQ consider alternative energy sources before granting air emissions permits for new coal plants.
Cox, a Republican considering a bid for governor in 2010, issued an opinion last Friday saying Democrat Granholm had overstepped her authority. Granholm's office disagreed.
DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said the DEQ's reviews were permissible under Granholm's directive and Cox's opinion. Cox acknowledged the department had discretion under state law and the federal Clean Air Act to request the information it wants from power producers, he said.
"Our take is that rather than debate, let's find a way to move this forward in a way that's consistent with both of these things," McCann said.
The attorney general's office suggested Granholm was backing down.
"The governor clearly followed (Cox's) opinion, stepped out of the way and let DEQ resume the legal process for permitting, as we have seen today with the Bay City hearings getting restarted," spokesman John Sellek said.
Not so, Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd replied.
"The Governor's executive directive sought to include the very type of review the DEQ announced today," Boyd said. "The Governor is moving forward with her policy just as she always intended to do."
A public hearing on the Consumers Energy plant is scheduled for April 14-15. If it turns up strong interest in an evaluation of alternatives, the DEQ will request it from the company, McCann said.
It won't necessarily mean coming up with different means of generating electricity such as wind turbines, although that's a possibility, he said. Others include building a coal plant but preventing emissions of pollutants such as carbon from escaping into the atmosphere.
Consumers Energy looked extensively at such alternatives before proposing the new coal generator, spokesman Jeff Holyfield said. The company has filed plans with the state for meeting customers' long-term needs with a mixture of renewable energy, conservation and coal.
"We're more than ready to go in and make the case," Holyfield said.
Environmentalists oppose the new plants, saying coal is becoming increasingly outdated as the federal government considers regulating greenhouse gases from power generators.
"We will contend in this public comment process that alternatives including efficiency programs and renewable power options will create more in-state jobs and a more vigorous economy than another gargantuan coal plant," said Hugh McDiarmid Jr. of the Michigan Environmental Council.
Public hearings have taken place for coal boilers proposed by Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative Inc. in Rogers City and the Holland Board of Public Works. DEQ regulators will discuss alternatives with both next month.
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On the Net:
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, www.michigan.gov/deq
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