LANSING, Mich. (March 19, 2026) — Today, the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment, chaired by Sen. Sean McCann (D-Kalamazoo), held a hearing to continue examining how skyrocketing energy costs facing Michigan families are being caused by the Trump administration policies. Energy industry experts shared testimony on the harmful — and costly — consequences resulting from the extended operation of the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Ottawa County, Michigan.
“While the Trump administration doubles down on outdated, pollutive, and grossly expensive energy policies, we are continuing to magnify how these decisions are harming our residents and inflating monthly bills,” said Sen. McCann. “Hardworking Michigan families should never be left to pay for decisions that roll back progress and leave them worse off. I will continue to call out the irresponsible political theater happening in Washington, D.C. and fight for clean, efficient, and affordable energy plans until we are met with concrete solutions and statewide relief.”
Burning coal is expensive to maintain — in 2024, coal generation cost $6.1 billion more than it did in 2021. The Trump administration’s involvement in dissolving clean, efficient energy plans is raising prices for Michigan ratepayers, such as through the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE) continued orders to keep the J.H. Campbell coal plant operational, despite its original plans to close in May of last year. While the retirement of the Campbell plant was slated to save Michigan ratepayers nearly $600 million, recent financial filings from Consumers Energy show that prolonging its operation has cost over $135 million through December of last year — more than $600,000 a day.
“We proposed retiring all three Campbell units. As part of that proposal, we could only do that if we were authorized to purchase the Covert natural gas generating facility,” said Shaun Johnson, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at Consumers Energy, in testimony today. “We were proposing to bring new energy into Michigan and into the MISO market. In addition to that, we proposed that we would build out renewables and competitively bid them so we could get the lowest price for our customers. Even though we were retiring plants early, by bringing in a new natural gas plant, it would result in about $600 million of savings for our customers. From May 23 to December 31, it would cost $135 million, in excess of revenues we receive from selling the power, to run the plant.”
Across the board, Michigan residents are feeling financial pressure from Washington Republicans’ energy policies. Since January 2025, utility costs have increased by 13% — more than four times the rate of inflation. Under the OBBA, Michigan energy projects were canceled or postponed, resulting in lost jobs and investments. Michigan families have been particularly burdened. The Trump administration’s OBBA has directly raised costs for Michigan households and will continue to spike prices.
This committee hearing follows a slew of actions taken by Michigan Senate Democrats to safeguard our state and residents from the dangerous, unprecedented cuts and decisions happening in the federal government.