Wolverine Power Cooperative

The Wolverine Clean Energy Venture is a consortium of six Michigan power cooperatives. Its Wolverine Clean Energy Venture plant – which was proposed to comprise two 300 megawatt (MW) power generation units - was cancelled in May 2010.

The members of the cooperative are
 * Cherryland Electric Cooperative, Grawn, Michigan
 * Great Lakes Energy, Boyne City, Michigan
 * HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Portland, Michigan
 * Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op, Onaway, Michigan
 * Spartan Renewable Energy, Cadillac, Michigan
 * Wolverine Power Marketing Cooperative, Cadillac, Michigan
 * Wolverine Power Marketing Cooperative, Cadillac, Michigan

On May 21, 2010 it was announced that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) denied Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative’s air quality Permit to Install application. The decision followed a review of the permit application under state and federal law.

“We in Rogers City are profoundly grateful for this decision,” Jean Veselenak, a resident of Rogers City said in a statement. “The cost of Wolverine coal would have meant diminished health, diminished economy, and great injury to our environment which sustains our lives. Wolverine must now put its head to the real thing; wind, solar; and new technology that already exists in Michigan. Our families deserve these jobs and their health after long promises.”

Citizen Groups

 * Citizens for Environmental Inquiry, Tom Karas, logman39 [at] hotmail.com
 * Michigan Sierra Club, Gayle Miller, gayle.miller [at] sierraclub.org
 * Environment Michigan, info [at] environmentmichigan.org

Citizen groups make video about plant
Citizen groups have created a video about the costs Wolverine Power Cooperative members are paying in their electricity bills for the cooperatives to fund carbon capture and clean coal research projects like Wolverine Clean Energy Venture, saying members pay both the construction costs and, later, higher energy prices. The video urges co-op members to vote for board of directors that reflect customer and member interests.

Coal lobbying
Wolverine Power Cooperative is a member of the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), an umbrella lobbying group for all coal ash interests that includes major coal burners Duke Energy, Southern Company and American Electric Power as well as dozens of other companies. The group argues that the so-called "beneficial-use industry" would be eliminated if a "hazardous" designation was given for coal ash waste.

ACAA set up a front group called Citizens for Recycling First, which argues that using toxic coal ash as fill in other products is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.

Contact details
10125 W. Watergate Rd. P.O. Box 229 Cadillac, MI 49601 Phone: (231) 775-5700 Fax: (231) 775-2077 Website: http://www.wpsci.com/

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Citizens for Environmental Inquiry
 * Michigan and coal
 * Rural Electric Cooperatives and Coal
 * United States and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2009
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2010
 * State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)