Following the Supreme Court staying the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, the state of Michigan said that it is no longer preparing to comply with the Obama administration’s new emissions regulations for coal-fired power plants and intends to suspend carbon rule activities pending the court resolution to comply with the rule and its timeline for submissions.
Michigan will wait for resolution of the issue through the courts and then determine how best to proceed.
The state will, however, complete the modelling project currently under way and paid for, as those findings will be helpful for other planning and compliance activities.
DTE Energy Chairman and CEO Gerry Anderson has responded to Michigan’s intention to suspend work on the state’s plan to comply with the Clean Power Plan.
Anderson indicated that it was understandable to suspend development on the state’s energy plan until the regulations are clarified since “developing national energy policy is a complex process with a diversity of views nationally”.
He explained: “Here at DTE, we intend to stay focused on what is important to our customers – providing, affordable, reliable and clean energy.”
“Between DTE’s aging coal plants – some upwards of 60 yrs old – and the continuing costs of meeting a variety of new EPA regulations, many of these plants will need to be retired within the next few years and that process will continue in the decade ahead. We need to move forward with the retirement of these plants and replace these facilities with cleaner natural gas and renewable generation,” Anderson continued.
“We will continue to work with our legislators in Lansing to develop energy policy that ensures Michigan residents get the reliable energy supply they need as we proceed through this transition. The key elements of what is being discussed in the proposed energy legislation are foundational to ensuring that Michigan retains control of its clean energy future and provides the framework for replacing aging infrastructure, including much of our state’s coal generation fleet.”
Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs
