Holland Board of Public Works

Holland Board of Public Works states on its website that it provides "electric generation and distribution, water and wastewater treatment to the City of Holland and selected areas."

Existing Coal Plants
On April 2, 2008, the Holland City Council and the Holland Board of Public Works (BPW) proposed an expansion of the James DeYoung Coal Plant with a 78 MW boiler, fueled by coal. (See James De Young Generation Station Expansion for more information).

In December 2009, the DOE announced that the De Young Generating Station did not receive the $380 million federal grant it requested to fund carbon capture and storage at the plant. The Holland Board of Public Works said it would continue to pursue a plant expansion.

A report released on July 7, 2010 by the Michigan Public Service Commission stated that the Holland Board of Public Works had underestimated the potential for renewable energy alternatives to expanding the coal-fired power generation of the Holland plant. The report called the BPW’s estimates of available renewable energy too low and “sometimes plainly incomplete” and said the BPW overestimated how much renewable energy would cost in the future.

On Feb. 11, 2011, the Department of Natural Resources said Holland's Board of Public Works can build the James De Young Generation Station Expansion, and that it expects to approve a new coal plant in Rogers City, the Wolverine Clean Energy Venture. Both plants had been denied air-quality permits in 2010 under an order issued by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who ordered the agency to assess the need for new electric power and whether there were ways to produce it other than coal, which produces greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Both plants failed the need test, and the state found that the new plants would raise customers' rates. The companies appealed and, in separate decisions in December 2010 and February 2011, local judges said the agency couldn't legally use need as a factor in deciding air permits. The plants still must meet new coal regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency that took effect Jan. 2, 2011.

Contact Details
625 Hastings Avenue Holland, MI 49423 Phone: 616-355-1500 Website: http://www.hollandbpw.com/

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