© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Michigan residents would pay $9 less per month for power under efficiency plan

Liesl Clark said Michigan is taking more older, coal-fired power plants offline because they are uneconomical to run.
Lindsey Smith
/
Michigan Radio
The James De Young coal is operated by the City of Holland's Board of Public Works.

Michigan residents would save around $9 a month by 2020 under a plan to improve energy efficiency. That’s according to analysis released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The group’s plan comes out less than a week before federal regulators are expected to unveil a new plan to drastically cut carbon emissions, which scientists believe contribute to climate change.

Analysis also found Michigan was poised to create nearly 7,000 direct jobs as a result of new standards to improve energy efficiency.

The Environmental Protection Agency will reportedly propose cutting carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants by 20%.

Michigan residents and businesses get more than half of their electricity from coal burning power plants.

But the EPA isn’t likely to tell states exactly how to cut carbon, and instead will likely give them flexibility to come up with their own policies.

“We’ve already really started that discussion and if we were to move forward with implementing these policies, Michigan would likely be in a great place to hit the goals that the EPA is going to lay out,” said Jack Schmitt, deputy director of Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

A workgroup in the state senate will begin crafting language to turn those polices into law next week.

Lindsey Smith is a Peabody Award-winning journalist currently leading the station's Amplify Team. She previously served as Michigan Public's Morning News Editor, Investigative Reporter and West Michigan Reporter.
Related Content