Dan E Karn
The Dan E. Karn Generating Plant is a natural-gas steam-electric station on the shore of Saginaw Bay in Essexville, Bay County, Michigan, owned and operated by Consumers Energy. The site originally held four units, but coal-fired Units 1 and 2 were permanently shut down in June 2023 as part of a settlement between Consumers Energy and the Michigan Attorney General that accelerated the utility's exit from coal. The two remaining units, Units 3 and 4, are natural gas- and fuel oil-fired steam turbines with a combined nameplate capacity of about 1,402 MW (roughly 1,200 MW net summer capacity), and they continue to supply power into the MISO market. Under the 2022 regulatory settlement, Units 3 and 4 are slated to keep operating through May 31, 2031, well past the original 2023 retirement date first proposed for them. Consumers Energy has since floated repurposing the retired coal side of the site for a new gas-fired plant, potentially to serve data-center load, though no specific project has been confirmed. The plant is named for Dan E. Karn, a former president of Consumers Power (Consumers Energy's predecessor).