Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
In this edition: Michigan’s Bay County to lose millions in tax revenue with closure of coal plant; a COVID-19 study looking at energy crises cites rural areas and tribal nations in Michigan; and Ohio legislators begin the repeal process for controversial House Bill 6.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Michigan:
- Bay County, Michigan Out Millions of Dollars in Tax Revenue with Closure of Weadock Coal Plant – MLive
Over the weekend, Bay County, Michigan’s J.C. Weadock Generating Plant had the last of its edifice demolished in a controlled explosion, capping off the end of this coal-powered Consumers Energy plant which stopped operations in 2016. Now, the municipal government of Bay City is looking for ways to make up the budget shortfall left in the wake of the plant’s closure, which provided tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue for the surrounding community located at the mouth of the Saginaw River.
The study, titled ‘The energy crises revealed by COVID: Intersections of Indigeneity, Inequity and health,’ specifically cites rural areas and tribal nations from Michigan, but says that these issues can be seen across the state, the United States, and even globally.
Ohio:
Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp, who replaced Larry Householder after the latter became embroiled in a corruption scandal related to FirstEnergy’s Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants, announced the creation of a “select committee” on Energy Policy and Oversight on Monday, August 31. Cupp described the move as the beginning of a repeal process for House Bill 6, a controversial funding bill that bailed out the nuclear plants after their parent company underwent bankruptcy in early 2018, while speaking to reporters.
Catch up on other Great Lakes energy headlines here:
Great Lakes Energy News Roundup: Back Forty mine setback, Illinois and Ohio utility shutoffs
In a time of COVID-19, millions of Americans are plagued by water debt
Featured image: The Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Lake County, Ohio (Photo by FirstEnergy Corp. via flickr.com cc 2.0)
