The hearing that put the estimate on trial<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At a March 23 and 24 hearing in the Michigan Public Service Commission<\/a> case U-21985, a Consumers engineering witness acknowledged that the company\u2019s dam removal estimates were built with limited site data and assumptions from a consultant, WSP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also said Consumers does not know how much sediment is impounded behind its dams or whether that material is contaminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That uncertainty matters because Consumers is pitching the sale to Confluence Hydro, a Hull Street Energy subsidiary, as the lowest-cost option compared with relicensing or demolition. In a filing to regulators, a senior Consumers executive wrote that the deal would \u201ctransfer substantial future operational and environmental liabilities and risk\u201d to Confluence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sediment is not just a muddy nuisance you see after a storm. Supporters of dam removal say these structures can warm rivers, harm fish habitat, and trap sediment upstream. What happens when you pull the plug on a century of buildup?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, modern tools exist to reduce the guesswork. Sediment cores, sonar mapping, and targeted sampling can show what is buried, how much of it there is, and how likely it is to move downstream, which is why river advocates have argued that accurate decommissioning estimates require analysis of sediment quantity, quality, and mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The contract at the center of the case starts at $160 per megawatt-hour with a 2.5% annual increase. Consumers has said it provides electricity to about 1.9 million customers, while its hydropower<\/a> business produces about 1% of its electricity and runs at a $152 million net annual loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A company spokesperson said the starting price is about twice what Consumers typically pays for hydropower on the open market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, price signals like this tend to land in everyday places, including the electric bill and the monthly budget. Consumers and Confluence argue the buyback rate is what makes it possible to keep the dams operating and fund major work, while critics say the same structure could lock customers into above-market power for decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consumers has also said the arrangement may be able to tap state incentives for utilities that buy renewable energy<\/a>, a subsidy it cannot access when it generates the power itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One reason the numbers are so tense is Hardy Dam on the Muskegon River. Consumers has estimated a $350 million spillway replacement to meet federal flood standards, and the company asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a March 16 filing to delay the project while it pursues the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is where climate, engineering, and politics collide. The spillway work is tied to a high-hazard standard known as the \u201cprobable maximum flood<\/a>,\u201d and the paperwork is full of the kinds of phrases that can turn into very real construction bills for whoever owns the dam when the work finally starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opponents keep pointing to the lesson of Edenville and Sanford, where a privately-owned dam system failed in 2020 and triggered massive flooding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate enforcement case, Michigan\u2019s attorney general highlighted a federal court judgment of $119,825,000 against the former Edenville owner, with state officials framing it as a warning that owners of critical infrastructure cannot put private interests ahead of public safety and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ownership structure is part of the debate, not a footnote. In testimony cited in the current case, state fisheries staff warned that complicated LLC structures can limit liability and make it easier to abandon a single asset, and US Army Corps of Engineers<\/a> inspection data cited in the dispute shows private dams are more likely to be in poor condition than utility-owned dams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An administrative law judge set a proposed decision target date of June 10, with intervenors that include the state attorney general, the Department of Natural Resources, and multiple conservation and angling groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAlso Read: Texas is full of oil wells that barely produce but never seem to die, and landowners say the real cost is leaking onto their property<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The mud behind the dams is the missing spreadsheet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The 30-year power deal and your electric bill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Also Read: A Kentucky woman rejected $26 million to let an AI company build a data center on her farm, and the standoff is becoming bigger than one sale<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Hardy Dam shows how climate risk becomes a line item<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Dam safety is also a security issue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What to watch before regulators decide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n