ALLEGAN, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Aug. 30, 2023) – Is it worth it for Consumers Energy to keep maintaining the Calkins Bridge Dam?
That question hung over a town hall meeting at Allegan High School on Tuesday night. This opened a second round of local meetings by the Jackson-based utility on the future of its 13 hydroelectric dams statewide, as licenses for operating those structures start expiring in 11 years, and determinations need to be made shortly.
Consumers Energy representatives disclosed that relicensing would cost about $1.4 billion, or about 43 dollars a year on average for each of the utility’s residential customers, and that other sources of energy are more cost-efficient, as the dams are running around $152 million in losses annually. The company plans to issue a Request for Proposal to sell the dams. During the meeting, a retained research firm, Public Sector Consultants, released feedback it received from the Allegan community which showed most people want to keep Lake Allegan as it is, the six-mile, 1,550-acre reservoir that was formed by the building of the 30-foot-high, 1,330-foot-long Calkins Bridge Dam in 1935.
Allegan County Board Chairman Jim Storey, a Holland Republican.
The series of local meetings on the matter continues on September 18th at Newaygo High School concerning the Croton and Hardy Dams.
They completely leave out that the Calkins Dam is a dead stop for the sea lamprey, which devastated the great Lakes. Consumers also ignores that Lake Allegan is a superfund site. The PCB contaminants flowed down river from Plainwell and Otsego paper mills. They are trapped, as it is heavier than water. This will hopefully result in a carpet of sand covering them forever. If they drain that lake it will result in 60 to 80 % more cleanup costs. As a fun kicker, the deed they signed with city of Allegan in 1963, promised to maintain the lake…