For decades, Michigan’s two monopoly utilities — DTE Energy and Consumers Energy — have failed to make the proper investments in our electric grid. The result: hundreds of thousands of Michiganders, from Detroit to Grand Rapids, lose power for days at a time every year.

In August of 2021, nearly a million customers across both utility service areas lost power, with thousands in the dark for over a week. It was the same story in 2022, when storms left hundreds of thousands without electricity. Even without major storms, communities like Detroit, Highland Park and Downriver endure constant outages due to outdated infrastructure and corporate neglect.

Headshot of a woman smiling, wearing a purple outfit.
State Rep. Denise Mentzer, D-Mount Clemens, represents Michigan’s 61st House district. (Courtesy photo)

While families pay more for unreliable service, DTE and Consumers continue to rely on big, expensive fossil fuel plants and block legislative reforms to give Michiganders more options for generating their own affordable clean energy. 

Michiganders now pay the highest prices for energy in the Midwest and get some of the worst reliability in the country. According to federal data compiled by the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, our state’s utilities take longer to restore power after outages than any other in the nation. In 2023, it took an average of 12 hours to get the lights back on — more than double the time in Ohio or Indiana. Michigan also ranks 41st nationally for residential electricity affordability.

Meanwhile, both companies enjoy record profits and pay out million-dollar bonuses to CEOs and executives. They pour millions into Lansing politics, often through dark-money groups that hide their donors. And now, the utilities are asking regulators for another $1 billion in rate hikes, on top of hundreds of millions already approved in recent years.

The problem is clear: families and small businesses are struggling under skyrocketing electric rates, crumbling infrastructure and a system that prioritizes corporate utility profits over the people they serve.

That’s why I’m working with my colleagues in the Michigan Legislature to establish Michigan’s first-ever Ratepayer Bill of Rights — a set of commonsense reforms to protect consumers, increase accountability and restore fairness to Michigan’s energy system.

The Ratepayer Bill of Rights will:

  • Ban political contributions from regulated utilities to lawmakers.
  • Stop customers from funding CEO bonuses and corporate lavish lifestyles while customers sit in the dark for too long.
  • Guarantee the right to reliable, affordable energy for every household.
  • Empower residents to choose their own electric provider and communities to produce more of their own clean energy, like community solar, without obstruction from monopoly utilities.

We’re already seeing momentum. In September, State Rep. Tonya Myers Phillips, D-Detroit, introduced the Protect Kids & Seniors from the Cold Act, which would prevent winter shutoffs for vulnerable households with seniors or children.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers also introduced a bill to compensate customers fairly for outages — starting at $5 per hour and increasing up to $25 per hour for outages longer than 72 hours. The bill would also grant automatic $100-$200 in credits for households with multiple outages in a year and require the Michigan Public Service Commission to ensure non-residential customers receive similar protections.

Also in September, state Sens. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, and Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, introduced bipartisan legislation to allow for community solar, which allows residents or businesses — including renters — to subscribe to local solar projects and lower their energy bills from the clean energy produced. State Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater, introduced legislation enabling customers to escape their monopoly captivity, allowing them to choose their electric provider.

Earlier this year, legislation was introduced to ban monopoly utility companies from making political donations to the lawmakers who are supposed to oversee them. There is also momentum building for a ballot initiative to do the same, spearheaded by Michiganders for Money Out of Politics. 

This is the beginning of an uphill fight. DTE and Consumers have spent millions to protect their interests in Lansing. But with the Ratepayer Bill of Rights, we can finally start to rebalance the scales — ensuring that Michiganders no longer pay the most for the least, and that our energy system works for the people who pay for it.

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