As has been the case around the nation, a Michigan ballot pits regulated utilities against renewable energy they see as a threat to their monopolies and will spend millions to try and stop it, RLG partner and co-chair of RLG Renewable Energy Department Court Rich said on Election Day
Steve Lacey in Climate Progress reports that in August, clean energy advocates in Michigan successfully put Proposal 3 on the ballot, an initiative that would increase the state’s renewable electricity target to 25 percent by 2025. Three months later, a front group representing Michigan’s two largest utilities has raised nearly $24 million to defeat the proposal, outspending supporters 2-1 on television, radio and direct mailer advertisements.
The heavy-spending group, called “Coalition for Affordable Renewable Energy,” — or CARE — is primarily supported by Consumers Energy and DTE Energy, two large utilities with high penetrations of coal. Each company has spent $11 million to campaign against new renewable energy targets. The group also received $100,000 from Enbridge, the energy company responsible for spilling over one million gallons of diluted tar sands crude in the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan.
“The move to new energy technology that decentralizes the grid, infuses competition into monopolistic markets, and grants consumers choice in energy should be embraced by all,” Rich said. “Well, it won’t be embraced — predictably — by the monopolies who have made an easy living for a century off their protected status.
“Perhaps this vote will finally help demonstrate why new energy technology should not be a partisan issue,” Rich said. “Democrats have embraced the environmental aspects of renewable energy for sure and Republicans in some places have embraced new energy technology for its ability to bring competition and a free market to this traditionally regulated industry. There is something for everyone in renewable energy, from free market capitalism, to clean air, to consumer choice and lower cost electricity.”
Michigan utilities are highly coal-dependent. That’s one of the reasons why Consumers Energy and DTE Energy are so opposed to the new targets and are spreading fear about the cost of renewable energy, Climate Progress states. In fact, a Michigan Public Service Commission report from earlier this year showed that wind, solar, and hydro resources are “cheaper than new coal-fired generation” in the state.
