With 15 years of life left, there is no urgency to close the J.H. Campbell, coal-fired power plant near Holland. It supplies 10% of Michigan’s electric demand. The plant’s owner, Consumers Energy, invested a billion dollars in air pollution control equipment to dramatically reduce emissions at Campbell and other coal plants. The company also signed an agreement with Ashcor this year to recycle all the residual coal ash into concrete.

There is urgency to keep the plant open, however. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation warns of rising grid reliability risks as 122,000 megawatts of dispatchable generation retires over the next 10 years across the nation. This is amid surging electricity demand.

The plant has local support within Ottawa County. The county’s Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to keep the plant open as have seven townships. A petition to keep the plant open has thousands of signatures. In contrast, a news video of a protest urging the plant’s immediate closure shows only about 20 people participating.

Thirty-seven Michigan Democrat House Representatives introduced House Resolution 219 in November. It urges U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright not to use an emergency order to prevent the closing of the Campbell power plant. The representatives argue in the resolution that the plant’s closure has the approval of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which operates the regional electric grid that covers Michigan. They also pointed to concerns about health, climate change, and cost as reasons to close the plant 15 years before the end of its design life. None of those reasons stands up to review.

Consumers Energy spent $1 billion to complete installation of air pollution control systems in 2015. There are two main U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criteria pollutants routinely measured in Air Quality Monitoring Stations: sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide. Both pollutants have seen major reductions over the decades at the Campbell plant. EPA data show sulfur dioxide falling by 77% and nitrous oxide declining by 44% from 2013 to 2024.

The closest station with measurements is in Grand Rapids, about 30 miles downwind from the Campbell power plant. Measurements showed sulfur dioxide averaged four parts per billion as a daily maximum averaged over 3 years. This is 95% below the 75 parts per billion established in the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Standards are set with a margin of error for safety. Nitrous oxide was measured at 39 part per billion averaged over three years compared to a standard of 100 parts per billion, or 61% below the standard.

Some sulfur dioxide can be transformed into fine particles known as PM2.5. The particulate matter can cause health problems, though no studies were found that show health problems for people living near the Campbell plant. The closest downwind air monitoring station is 18 miles away in Jenison. PM2.5 was measured at 6.9 micrograms per cubic meter annual average in 2024, and 7.8 so far in 2025. The EPA standard is nine micrograms.

The Mackinac Center’s report “Michigan’s Expensive Net Zero Gamble” shows 2022 total carbon dioxide emissions in Michigan were 57 million metric tons. The Campbell plant contributed eight million metric tons, or 14%. The study also shows state policy to go to net zero emissions will reduce global temperatures by 0.0015˚ C by 2100, an amount too small to measure. As such, the Campbell plant is not a climate threat.

In closing the Campbell plant early and replacing it with solar, Consumers Energy’s interest appears to be purely financial. The cost of decommissioning a closed power plant has been borne by the utilities’ stockholders. The Michigan Public Service Commission allowed that cost to be shifted to electric customers if the plant was closed early and replaced by solar to meet state net zero mandates. Keeping the plant open to its design life of 2040 would jeopardize that deal. Consumers Energy also makes a guaranteed 9% profit on investments in new generation, like wind and solar, so the utility has an incentive to build much new generation as soon as possible.

The Campbell power plant should remain open at least until the Michigan Public Service Commission approves the utility’s new generation plan. The commission should compare cost and reliability of options other than solar. Options should include nuclear and natural gas powered power plants, and possibly newly developed carbon capture technology for potentially lower cost. These options might not be as profitable for the utility companies, but they will produce affordable and reliable energy, which is what the commission is supposed to deliver to Michigan residents.

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