Retiring coal plants are often on waterfronts that could be reclaimed for public benefit. As coal plants shut down, grantee Environmental Law and Policy Center is showing how communities can reclaim their waterfront areas for public use, including recreation and clean energy. At the Dan E. Karn coal plant site on Saginaw Bay in Michigan, ELPC is partnering with Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy to re-envision the area for the former coal plant. Using the land for parkland and transitioning the energy infrastructure to renewable energy, like solar and battery energy storage, could be a model for shuttered coal plant sites throughout the Midwest.
