Brian Elder Urges Governor to Expedite Consumers Coal Plant Permit
County Commissioner, Local Economic Development Leader Hopes to Light Fire
December 6, 2009
By: Dave Rogers
Brian Elder, county commissioner and economic development leader, hopes to get state officials to move ahead on permit for Consumers plant expansion.
"I'm hoping to light a fire under them," said Bay County Commissioner Brian K. Elder, chairman of Bay Future, Inc., public-private economic development agency.
Mr. Elder today sent a letter asking Governor Jennifer Granholm and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) Director Steven Chester: "Where's the air permit for Consumers Energy's planned $2 billion plus investment in a new coal-fired power plant in Bay County's Hampton Township?"
Elder amplified, addressing environmentalist concerns:
"This project will enable Consumers to retire some of its older, less environmentally friendly power plants. That makes this project a win-win for our State!
"Please give our local workers a ray of hope on the horizon, and get us this air permit before this year comes to an end."
Elder, a Democrat from Bay City, is running for 96th District State Representative and is hoping local economic development initiatives, especially the proposed Consumers' plant expansion, provide jobs.
Elder said the MDEQ "has been dragging its feet for the past two years on an air permit for the biggest economic development project Bay County has ever seen!"
"For a State that will have lost more than a million jobs by the end of this decade, I find it incredible that the Governor and MDEQ appear to be thumbing their noses at thousands of high-paying, union-represented construction jobs that would be created by this project.
"Our State needs leadership to help dig us out of the worst economic conditions Michigan has seen since the Great Depression. Its time to get back to work in Michigan."
Elder said Consumers Energy's application for an air permit needed to construct the state-of-the-art clean coal plant was submitted to the regulatory agency in November 2007.
"Since then we've had public hearings, public comment periods, extensions of public comment periods and no air permit," said Elder.
Elder said the new power plant will employ an estimated 1,800 workers from the construction and building trades unions plus an estimated 100 permanent operating jobs when it is completed.
The new power plant would also enable Consumers to retire some of its older, less environmentally friendly power plants that would make the project a win-win for the State."
Elder, a four-term Bay County Commissioner, also serves as a Commissioner of MBS International Airport. He practices law in Auburn. Elder and his wife, Susan, are the parents of three children.
(For more information on Brian Elder please visit the web site: www.brianelderforstaterepresentative.com)
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