Consumers Energy faces $75K fine over air pollution violations at gas plant

VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI — Michigan’s second largest electric utility faces a state fine after environmental regulators say it failed to follow air quality rules at one of its major power plants.

Consumers Energy could be required to pay a $75,000 civil penalty as part of a proposed order negotiated with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, or EGLE, to resolve violations.

Regulators dinged the power company for allegedly exceeding allowed air pollutant emissions levels for particulate matter, sulfuric acid and carbon monoxide at the Covert Generating Station near South Haven.

“Consumers Energy takes environmental compliance seriously, and we have worked closely with EGLE to resolve this matter,” said utility spokesperson Brian Wheeler in a statement.

The natural gas-fired power plant with an output of some 1,200 megawatts, enough to power more than a million homes, is a key part of Consumers’ plan to phase out dirtier facilities that burn coal. It was slated to do so for good at the end of May before the Trump administration intervened to keep the utility’s last coal plant in Ottawa County open.

While gas is still a fossil fuel, making Covert a significant industrial source of carbon emissions that fuel climate change, burning it is less impactful than coal and releases fewer air pollutants.

Consumers purchased and began to run the Covert plant in 2023 as it planned for coal plant retirements, but its operations date back to 2004.

The alleged environmental violations originated with emissions testing in May and July 2024 that showed elevated rates of particulate matter emissions, almost double what its permit allows for one of the facility’s three generating units, according to a state violation notices.

The testing measured average emission rates of fine, inhalable particles known as PM2.5 and PM10, with the numbers referring to the diameter of the particles in microns. They can aggravate asthma and are linked to a range of health problems.

The initial violation also cited Covert for emissions of sulfuric acid above its permitted limit.

In a response to regulators, Consumers pushed back on the violations.

The particulate matter emissions were a “historic anomaly,” company officials wrote, and were “largely attributable to inherent measurement error” with the testing method. They also concluded sulfuric acid emissions were likely not actually above the limit but were recorded as such due to interference with the testing method caused by another compound present in exhaust gases.

Consumers Energy “does not believe the emission exceedances are accurate or representative of Units 1 and 3 actual emissions,” officials wrote.

But more violations followed in March 2025, when regulators cited Covert for 10 instances of excess emissions of carbon monoxide while gas combustion turbines were starting up or shutting down at the plant in 2024.

A month later, regulators escalated enforcement, noting the violations were considered “high priority” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and had to be reported to the feds.

In response to EGLE, Consumers said the carbon monoxide emission limits in its existing permit, obtained before it owned the plant, were based on inaccurate assumptions, meaning they couldn’t be met under all circumstances. It was working with grid operators to minimize start-ups and shutdowns of the turbines, it said.

Consumers is now applying to raise emissions limits for various pollutants at Covert.

Particulate matter limits would rise from 10.7 pounds per hour to 22.2 pounds per hour, with the applicable carbon monoxide limits during start-up and shutdown moving from 1,164 pounds per hour to 4,000 pounds per hour, per an application it submitted to the state.

Nothing about the plant’s equipment is changing, but the shifts correct flaws that led to lower permit limits before Consumers owned the plant and better reflect its actual operations, according to the application.

“We are working with EGLE to update Covert Generating Station’s air permit to align with safe and compliant plant operations and available emission measurement techniques,” Wheeler said.

“It’s important to note the plant’s emissions have not changed meaningfully over time, did not cause any actual environmental harm, and did not exceed any air quality health-based requirements,” he added.

The proposed consent order negotiated with EGLE to resolve the violations requires Consumers to comply with revised emissions limits after a new permit is issued. It will also have to submit a plan for and the results of subsequent emissions testing.

In a statement, EGLE spokesperson Josef Greenberg Stephens said the agency’s Air Quality Division is conducting a “thorough review and evaluation” of Consumers’ request to change air pollution emission limits.

It does not approve permit conditions if they exceed federal air quality standards meant to protect public health and other applicable health-based standards, Greenberg Stephens said.

“The review is in its early stages, and we are still evaluating the information provided by the company. We will continue to require the company to work toward returning to compliance while ensuring air quality standards and all applicable air quality rules are adhered to,” Greenberg Stephens added.

The state environmental agency is taking public comment on the legally-binding consent order with Consumers through Aug. 7, offering the ability to submit input online before it is finalized.