Consumers to discuss fate of Calkins Dam at meeting

In August of 2022, Consumers Energy hosted a public meeting to discuss the future of Calkins Bridge Day. On Tuesday, August 29, 2023, at 6pm, CE will hold a follow-up meeting to inform the community about possibilities for this dam and 12 others that will lose their hydroelectric licenses between 2034 through 2041.
The series of public meetings are structured to inform community members and local leaders as CE evaluates the future of the dams and considers options for safely maintaining or removing the structures.
In a recent media advisory, Josh Paciorek, a media contact for CE, set out points to review:

• Consumers Energy hired Public Sector Consultants, a Lansing-based nonpartisan research and consulting firm that specializes in public engagement, to help host the public meetings.
• Consumers Energy’s 30 to 40-year federal operating licenses on the Muskegon, Manistee, Grand, Kalamazoo and Au Sable rivers are set to expire beginning in 2034 through 2041. The Calkins Bridge Dam license expires in 2040.
• At the meeting, Consumers Energy will be presenting feedback gathered in the last year as well as the economic contribution study.
• For all meeting details, to provide comments, and more information about the process, visit: ConsumersEnergy.com/HydroFuture.
• Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.