Yesterday, Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) Chairman J. Peter Lark presented Governor Granholm with the MPSC’s much-anticipated (and overdue) 21st Century Energy Plan. Despite the official fanfare, however, the plan, with its call for watered-down renewable portfolio standards and the immediate construction of new coal-fired power plants, seems better suited to the 19th-century than to the 21st.
Despite the fact that the MPSC was charged with developing a comprehensive plan to provide reliable, clean and affordable power Michigan’s energy needs, the plan takes only baby steps in the direction of renewable energy. At a time when bold measures are needed both to make Michigan a global leader in the development and production of renewable energy and to reduce our reliance on out-dated dirty sources of energy, the plan calls for a more modest renewable portfolio standard (RPS), requiring just 10% of our needs to be met through renewable sources by 2015, with no additional, longer-term renewable requirement.
Even if enacted, however, this target would keep Michigan near the bottom of the twenty-three states (plus the District of Columbia) that already have RPS requirements, and well behind national leaders such as California (20% by 2010), New York (25% by 2015) and Maine (30% by 2000). The MPSC’s “comprehensive” plan does nothing to catch up with these national leaders, and puts our state at risk of being an environmental backwater when it comes to the generation of clean energy, and the massive investment and jobs creation that would come with playing a real leadership role in this area.
Not surprisingly with a renewable target this low, the MSPC was forced to add additional coal plants to Michigan’s power generation mix. This is a complete turn-around from what Governor Granholm has been promoting for years. In April 2006, for example, Granholm announced a comprehensive plan to reduce mercury emissions from Michigan power plants by 90% by 2015. This plan garnered widespread support from a broad coalition of environment, public health and women and children’s advocacy groups. Ironically, the 2015 goal for mercury reductions is the same year that the new coal plants called for in yesterday’s MPSC plan would come on-line.
When it comes to moving away from dirty coal plants and towards the clean energies of the future, baby steps are simply not enough. As even the MPSC plan shows, a 10% renewable requirement combined with energy efficiency measures is insufficient to meet Michigan’s growing energy needs. Without bolder steps, we will continue to pour carbon emissions into our atmosphere and mercury into our lakes, and will continue to fall far short of our duties as responsible stewards of our Great Lakes environment.
In addition, with states ranging from Vermont and Maine to California and New York already doing far more than what we’re even proposing, Michigan will fall further behind in the race to attract much-needed renewable energy jobs to our state. A bold RPS requirement presents Michigan with a win-win situation: cleaner energy and more jobs. Or to put it another way, does anyone really expect dirty coal plants to produce a large increase in the jobs of today, not to mention the jobs of tomorrow?
Unfortunately, if the MPSC plan takes effect without substantial amendments, it will be we as citizens of Michigan that will bear the burden of the MSPC’s lack of vision and boldness – with our health and with our wallets – for decades to come.
Let’s hope the Governor, instead of embracing the dirty technologies of the past, chooses instead to meet Michigan’s energy needs by investing in a cleaner future.
