Coal Plant Hearing Highlights Need for Community Dialogue, Clean Energy Public Hearing Highlights Need for More Renewables

TRENTON, MI – Today, advocates working to protect public health and stop climate change attended a public hearing on changes to a DTE Energy coal plant which risks adversely affecting health. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing on a permit to install (PTI) for Trenton Refined Coal, LLC to provide treatment services to DTE Energy for the reduction of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and mercury from the use of reduced fuel emissions (REF) technology. As a byproduct of this process, there will be an increase in the emissions of particulate matter. The EPA lists the health effects of particulate matter as “premature death in people with heart or lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, and increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing, or difficulty breathing.”

Under this arrangement, taxpayers will subsidize health and climate risks associated with the operations at Trenton Refined Coal, LLC and DTE Energy.DTE Energy has not announced the effect this action will have on its announced 2023 retirement date for the Trenton Channel Coal Plant.

In response, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Soulardarity, Original United Citizens of Southwest Detroit, 48217 Community and Environmental Health Organization, and the Sierra Club released the following statement:

“Given the health risks, it is incumbent on DTE to work with its suppliers to make sure that they’re respectful to families, customers, and communities. With new scientific reports sounding the alarm on climate change, investments in coal plants (rather than earlier shutdowns) should be met with the utmost skepticism, especially when those funds could’ve gone to renewables. Climate change’s urgent humanitarian crisis is connected to the burning of fossil fuels and these investments will do little to address the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, there is concern that REF will not deliver the advertised pollution reductions. According to Reuters: “Utilities that burn refined coal have trailed competitors burning raw coal in lowering NOx emissions, and 22 of 56 plants burning refined coal have seen NOx emission rates rise instead of fall.”

DTE Energy and Trenton Refined Coal, LLC’s lack of transparency highlights the reason that the timeline to retire coal must be accelerated. The health effects of this unsafe plant and the $113 million that has been lost operating it (2015-2017) are an undue burden on ratepayers, especially when new studies show that wind and solar is cheaper and creates more jobs.

The tax subsidies which DTE and Trenton Refined Coal, LLC will gain from this deal are small in comparison to the billions in climate costs we will pay in the United States due to coal plants. More jobs and better far better health benefits are tied to renewables. It’s time for solutions that protect the quality of life for Michiganders and their families, not line the pockets of out-of-state investors.”