Mike Alaimo, environmental and energy affairs director of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said industry groups have not yet seen the text of the bills. But in general, Alaimo said, his group believes the push for clean energy needs to be balanced against reliability and affordability concerns. “We need policies that reflect all of those priorities equally,” Alaimo said, and deploying clean energy too fast could lead to compromise on cost and service.
Alaimo also said he wants to see lawmakers balance mandates with incentives to help businesses that are willing to adopt environmentally-friendly practices, but face multi-million-dollar tabs to trade smokestacks for emissions-free operations. “The environmental benefits are enormous, but it comes at a cost,” Alaimo said. “That’s just the reality.”