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Officials say they are working with community "stakeholders" to find a new use for the property after the power plant closes in April 2016.
(MLive.com file)
MUSKEGON, MI -- Using the principle "leave it better than we found it," officials with Consumers Energy said they are committed to helping find a new use for the B.C. Cobb property after the power plant closes in two years.
Officials with the utility updated the community Tuesday, April 22 on plans to decommission the power plant. Those plans include working to find new customers, possibly related to the area's strong agricultural presence, needed to maintain federal dredging of the Muskegon Lake port.
"Certainly there's some great opportunity for this area," said Dennis Marvin, communications director for Consumers Energy.
The power company announced in December 2011 that B.C. Cobb, situated on the east end of Muskegon Lake, would be closed in April 2015. That date has since been moved to April 2016.
The power plant's age, which is about 60 years, along with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements for additional pollution control equipment, prompted the decision to close, said Keith Welcher, Consumers Energy decommissioning project manager.
"They're old. They're going to take a ton of maintenance to keep them running," Welcher said of B.C. Cobb as well as two other coal-burning plants in Luna Pier and the Bay City area that Consumers Energy is closing.
In fact, Welcher said, "I can't tell you if these units will even make it until April 2016."
To prepare for the closure of the plant, the company is conducting end-use and environmental impact studies, he said. The company is aware that the B.C. Cobb plant has such environmental issues as lead paint and asbestos that will be examined further as the company contemplates demolition of the plant's various buildings, Welcher said.
The company has reached out to such "stakeholders" as the city, Muskegon County and economic development groups to help determine what will become of the property, Marvin said. Among the company's concerns is the need to replace the plant's shipments of coal that Marvin said comprise two-thirds of the Muskegon port's commercial activity.
Annually, about 640,000 tons of coal are shipped to the plant. The U.S. Corps of Engineers requires 1 million tons to continue its annual dredging of the deep-water port.
"If they stop dredging, then the state of Michigan loses its only commercially viable port on the Lake Michigan side of the state of Michigan," Marvin said.
A potential reuse that would create substantial shipping opportunities involves turning the area into an agricultural food processing center, he said. Another potential is to tie the Muskegon port in with the entire Great Lakes shipping system to get products manufactured in West Michigan to markets in Europe, Marvin said.
Options for the property itself include continuing industrial use, moving to commercial and/or retail use or even constructing condominiums, Welcher said.
"We could do any number of things with that property," Welcher said.
The bottom line, the Consumers Energy officials said, is that the company has its customers' interests in mind and will not, as Welcher said, "just close the door and walk away."
"We've got a good, long-standing corporate citizenship program with Consumers Energy, and we're endeavoring to make sure that continues," Welcher said.
Lynn Moore covers the city of Muskegon for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email her at lmoore8@mlive.com and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.