Plans for the facility were announced two years ago, but citing recent legislation that restricted available customers for the project and the economy, LS is pulling out.

The company says it was also waiting for an air quality permit from the Department of Environmental Quality.

"I think they DEQ has a lot on their plate, and it was taking an awful long time to get through the process," (LS Power's Joy) Buchanan said.

"Our permit has been almost two years, and we still don't have a hearing scheduled."

What's worse, according to the Bay City Times,  the move now has many questioning whether a planned coal-fired power plant in Bay County will actually go forward.

Midland's representative in the state House, Jim Stamas, issued the following statement:

"With an unemployment rate nearing 13 percent, our state can't afford a governor who is picking and choosing which jobs she wants to keep.  Michigan is losing 1,000 jobs each day. Because of the rigorous and burdensome actions of the Department of Environmental Quality and the state's bureaucracy, 1,500 families in the tri-county region are left to find another way to make ends meet."

He isn't taking this one lying down and unemployed moms and dads across Michigan are left wishing the Granholm-Cherry administration WOULD.

In this year's State of the State address, Gov. Granholm issued Executive Directive 2009-2 to require the DEQ to review the feasibility of alternatives to fossil fuels and potentially limit state permits for future coal-fired electricity plants. Late last week the Michigan Public Service Commission adopted new rules to help implement this plan.  

House Republicans fought for the company and others throughout the state, requesting a ruling by the state attorney general on the legality of the governor's efforts to stop the construction by requiring an expanded review by the DEQ. The attorney general ruled that the governor overstepped constitutional authority in attempting to rewrite the law through her executive directive.

"It is unfortunate that Gov. Granholm and the Michigan Public Service Commission proceeded to implement her executive order even after the attorney general ruled it violated current statute and the Michigan Constitution," House Republican Leader Kevin Elsenheimer said in a prepared statement.  "It is clear from the governor's actions that clean-coal jobs are not welcome in Michigan. We only hope that the onerous regulatory environment created by the governor's executive order and the recent actions of the Michigan Public Service Commission does not threaten other planned clean-coal plants slated for Rogers City and Bay City."

Elsenheimer added that the LS Power's decision not to build in Michigan is a "clarion call to lawmakers and the governor to address serious reforms that will clear the way for new jobs and business investment."

In March, "Chief Executive" magazine released its list of the best and worst states for job growth and business for 2009 (read the report here).  

Michigan was dead last and the survey authors called the state a "tax disaster."

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, a man overseeing a 5.4 percent unemployment rate, told RightMichigan this weekend that investment "capitol is a coward" and that the key to turning this economy around is creating an environment that welcomes job makers.  

This week we're facing another massive budget deficit.  We understand that and we understand what has to be done immediately to fulfill constitutional requirements.  But that deficit, as big, nasty and ugly as she is, is only a symptom.

LS Power's decision to preemptively eliminate over 1,700 Michigan jobs points us pretty clearly towards just one of the diseases ravaging Michigan's economy.  

Unfortunately it'll take a little more than penicillin to clear up a case of the D.E.Q.s.