LS Power, an energy company slated to create thousands of jobs near Midland, today announced it is canceling plans to build a new clean-coal power plant, citing an unfriendly business climate and stringent permitting requirements required by Gov. Granholm as a reason for leaving the state. This move echoes the finding of a recent survey of CEOs that pegged Michigan as the worst state in which to do business.
This blow will cost an estimated 1,500 projected construction jobs, 241 permanent jobs and billions of dollars in regional economic activity.
"With an unemployment rate nearing 13 percent, our state can't afford a governor who is picking and choosing which jobs she wants to keep," said Rep. Jim Stamas, R-Midland. "Michigan is losing 1,000 jobs each day. Because of the rigorous and burdensome actions of the Department of Environmental Quality and the state's bureaucracy, 1,500 families in the tri-county region are left to find another way to make ends meet."
In this year's State of the State address, Gov. Granholm issued Executive Directive 2009-2 to require the DEQ to review the feasibility of alternatives to fossil fuels and potentially limit state permits for future coal-fired electricity plants. Yesterday the Michigan Public Service Commission adopted new rules to help implement this plan.
House Republicans fought for the company and others throughout the state, requesting a ruling by the state attorney general on the legality of the governor's efforts to stop the construction by requiring an expanded review by the DEQ. The attorney general ruled that the governor overstepped constitutional authority in attempting to rewrite the law through her executive directive.
"It is unfortunate that Gov. Granholm and the Michigan Public Service Commission proceeded to implement her executive order even after the attorney general ruled it violated current statute and the Michigan Constitution," said House Republican Leader Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Kewadin. "It is clear from the governor's actions that clean-coal jobs are not welcome in Michigan. We only hope that the onerous regulatory environment created by the governor's executive order and the recent actions of the Michigan Public Service Commission does not threaten other planned clean-coal plants slated for Rogers City and Bay City."
Elsenheimer added that the LS Power's decision not to build in Michigan is a clarion call to lawmakers and the governor to address serious reforms that will clear the way for new jobs and business investment.
In March, "Chief Executive" magazine released its list of the best and worst states for job growth and business for 2009 (read the report here). Michigan was dead last and the survey authors called the state a "tax disaster" along with California.
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