Michigan electric companies say the voracious appetite for energy-sucking gadgets like plasma televisions, which use four times the power of old-fashioned screens, are pushing them to build the first new coal plants in the state in 20 years to satisfy the demand.

Environmental groups say the sudden rush to build coal plants calls on a 19th-Century technology to solve 21st-Century problems.

They oppose the plans, arguing that new coal plants will add global-warming gases at a time when the state and nation are under pressure from other countries to reduce those gases.

Sparking the debate are proposals to build eight coal-fired plants around the state (see map, below). Four are under review for permits and one has won approval. The state has 19 coal plants.

"We're looking out for the needs of our 1.8 million customers," said Jeff Holyfield, a spokesman for Jackson-based Consumers Energy. "They're voting with their light switches -- they want more power."

Michigan has more proposals for coal plants than any other state, according to the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club. The club's leaders and those of other environmental groups promise to fight every plant.

"We're heading the wrong way," said Anne Woiwode, director of the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club. "These are bad investments for the state. We're making a 50-year commitment to coal-fired plants, an outdated technology."

Currently, Michigan has the nation's second-oldest contingent of coal plants.

Across the country, 150 power plant applications for coal plants have run into opposition. Cost and concerns about carbon dioxide have led to the cancellation of at least 60 coal plant projects in the past two years.

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