WEST OLIVE, Mich. — Nearly one year after the Trump administration ordered the J.H. Campbell coal plant to stay open, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and West Michigan neighbors gathered in Olive Township Thursday to discuss the plant's continued operation and its impact on ratepayers and public health.
WATCH: AG Nessel, West Michigan neighbors discuss impact of J.H. Campbell Coal Plant
Consumers Energy, which owns the plant, says it costs $620,000 a day to run — a cost borne by families and businesses across the Midwest.
"Every day this plant is forced to stay open is another day Michigan residents are footing the bill for the president's latest vanity project," Nessel said.
The original order to keep the plant open came on May 23, 2025.
Dr. Donald Sheill, who lives just north of the plant in West Michigan, said he worries about the health effects of the plant's continued operation.
"For decades, we've been aware that CO2 from burning coal results in atmospheric warming and many adverse health effects," Sheill said.
"Living so close to the plant, I am aware every day of the elevated risk to my family and everyone living in our region and across Michigan and beyond," Sheill said.
Dr. Paul Keck, another West Michigan neighbor, said the financial burden on residents is the most pressing concern.
"The most important thing for people to know is what it's costing to keep this place open," Keck said.
Not everyone in the area wants the plant shut down. Joseph Parnell McCarter has secured support from 7 townships in Ottawa County for a plan to create a locally controlled energy cooperative that would use the plant to provide energy to the county's 300,000 residents.
"We feel it's very important for our energy security, our long-term energy well-being, that we have a variety of energy sources, especially fossil fuel plants," McCarter said.
McCarter also pointed to the plant's role in supporting the broader regional grid.
"It's very important for our region. It provides electric for one million residents at a time when our electric grid is being very taxed," McCarter said.
Despite the local push to preserve the plant, Nessel said she intends to continue fighting its operation.
"We will absolutely continue to fight the unlawful extensions that are dragging this power plant along for no real purpose at all, in a way that is very damaging to the residents of our state," Nessel said.
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