Advocacy News – Nov. 30, 2023
What’s new: This week, Governor Whitmer signed seven bills into law that will drastically change the way the state develops and regulates its energy portfolio. At her bill signing event, rhetoric surrounding focused on benefits to businesses and savings to ratepayers, yet energy experts disagree. In actuality, three of the bills (Senate Bills 271, 273 and 502) would hamstring the ability for electric providers to maintain the grid affordably and reliably.
Why it matters: Problems with the legislative process were rife from the very beginning of the bills’ introduction, with little to no effort to bring diverse viewpoints to the table. The bills would mandate that 60% of the state’s electricity be derived from renewable energy sources by 2035 and be 100% ‘clean energy’ by 2040. The bill package would also inject equity and environmental justice parameters into the Michigan Public Service Commission’s scope of authority.
What we did: Through its leadership of the Great Lakes Growth Coalition, the MI Chamber voiced strong concerns that the bills will lead to the premature retiring of existing power generation systems, that will then need to be paid for by industrial and commercial customers. Additionally, GLG partners fear these costs will then be passed on to hard working Michigan families through goods and services.
There’s more: However, also signed into law were bills that would reduce regulatory barriers to renewable energy facilities in the state. The MI Chamber supported these bills as needed reforms to the current local control process that has led to dozens of stalled projects throughout the state and millions of dollars from private developers being sidelined. These bills, House Bills 5120-23, would give the state broader authority to evaluate the costs and benefits of utility scale renewable projects, creating a more consistent and durable approach.
For more information, contact Mike Alaimo at malaimo@michamber.com.