ESSEXVILLE - Consumers Energy has selected the grounds of its Karn/Weadock Generating Complex near Bay City as the site for construction of an 800-megawatt coal power plant.

The cost of the plant is expected to exceed $2 billion, which would easily make it the largest construction project in Michigan in recent memory. Consumers Energy estimates that 1,800 construction jobs would be created at peak employment. If a few hurdles are crossed, the plant is expected to be in operation in 2015.

The announcement of the new plant came at a Sept. 14 new conference. "Consumers Energy has selected the Karn/Weadock Generating Complex to be the site of a new clean coal power plant to serve the growing electric needs of Michigan families and businesses in the 21st Century," said David Joos, the president and chief executive officer of CMS Energy, the parent company of Consumers Energy.

"Customer demand for electricity is growing at a steady pace in Michigan. To help meet that growing demand, Consumers Energy plans to double the amount of electricity from renewable sources that we supply to customers to 10 percent from 5 percent today. We're also working on ways to help customers lower the demand for power through new energy efficiency and demand management programs, which will help lower overall power costs," Joos said.

Throughout this decade, officials at Michigan's two largest utilities, Consumers Energy and DTE Energy, have warned that increasing electrical power demands have necessitated the construction of new power generation facilities in the state. The State of Michigan's own 21st Century Energy Plan calls for the creation of 5,000 megawatts of new baseload power plants between 2015 and 2025.

To meet that plan, the new plant at the Karn Weadock site would be just the start. The largest power plant in Michigan is DTE Energy's 3,000 megawatt Monroe Power Plant, constructed in 1974. DTE Energy hasn't built a new coal-fired plant since the Belle River Plant came online in 1985. The most recent Consumers Energy coal-burner to be lit was the J.H. Campbell Unit 3 near West Olive in 1980.

John Russell, the president and chief operating officer of Consumers Energy, said the Karn/Weadock Generating Complex was selected as the site of the new plant because of a number of factors, including the ability to ship in coal by rail or water, the proximity to customer load, and the size of the 1,000-acre site, which is large enough to add a new plant and still have the potential for a second new unit.

Announcement of the plant is only the first step. Environmental permits and permission from the Michigan Public Service Commission need to be obtained, as do tax abatements for the new plant.

In addition, both Consumers, DTE Energy and a group of businesses and organizations (including the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council) are part of a coalition calling for the repeal or reform of Michigan's electrical deregulation law which they say places an unfair burden on established utilities

Public Act 141 of 2000 introduced electrical choice to Michigan residents by allowing them to choose their own electricity provider. But the law also allows alternative energy providers to strip business customers from DTE and Consumers Energy, causing significant losses in earnings for the utilities.

DTE and Consumers say the law creates an uneven playing field: if a business or residence is too small or too far out of the way to be profitably serviced by an electrical provider, they can be ignored by everyone except the established utilities. The alternative power providers are allowed to cherry pick the utilities' best customers.

And, with an uncertain profit and customer base, the deregulation has created a disincentive for Consumers Energy and DTE Energy to build new power plants. In fact, the plant likely won't be built without the regulatory change.

"The announcement of this power plant construction is obviously great news for the building trades in Michigan," said Patrick Devlin, CEO of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. "Consumers Energy and DTE Energy have long been partners with construction unions, and we're going to try to help them by continuing to push for changing the unfair regulatory environment for utilities in Michigan, and hopefully that will ease the way for more powerhouse construction."

Consumers Energy's Russell said that a number of states have ended their experiments in electrical deregulation in order to allow power plant construction to move forward.

"Our customers are using 8 percent more electricity today than they were a decade ago, and the demand continues to grow," he said. "We need to invest in new, clean, efficient generation to meet those needs. If we don't, our customers will be exposed to higher, more volatile electricity market prices and lower reliability. In addition, new generation developed in Michigan means needed investment and jobs here rather than in other states."

THIS IS CONSUMERS ENERGY'S 2,138-megawatt Karn/Weadock plant, shown earlier this decade. With shipping docks and rail lines already leading to the plant - and with room for expansion - the site is ideal for construction of another powerhouse.