Consumers granted more time to negotiate sale of Calkins Dam

The future of the dam that created Lake Allegan remains unsettled after Michigan regulators gave Consumers Energy more time to negotiate over its proposed sale of 13 hydroelectric dams. The Michigan Public Service Commission voted Nov. 5 to extend its deadline for ruling on the proposal, which includes the Calkins Bridge Dam on the Kalamazoo River. It was the second delay in the case. Any settlement must be filed by 5 p.m. Dec. 9. The commission plans to issue a final order Dec. 17 if no settlement is filed. A further extension would require a joint request from a majority of the parties in the case. The City of Allegan built the dam in 1935, and its power plant began commercial operation in 1936. The city operated it until Consumers Energy bought it in 1969. The dam holds back the Kalamazoo River to form the roughly 1,600-acre Lake Allegan. It is the only hydroelectric plant Consumers owns on the river and can generate about 2.55 megawatts.

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