Key facts
- State Proposition 2 would bar regulated gas and electric utilities and companies with more than $250,000 in government contracts from political contributions.
- The ban would also cover executives, their immediate family members and others closely connected to the companies.
- Ann Arbor's Proposal E would create a board to direct a city-owned utility, which after a second vote would replace DTE Energy.
- DTE Energy and Consumers Energy serve about 80% of Michigan's customers, according to the report.
- Protect MI Free Speech claimed the spending ban violates free speech protections under the Citizens United ruling.
- Consumers Energy spokesperson Katie Carey said the proposal would shift influence toward wealthy national donors and special interests.
Michigan voters will decide on November 3 whether to bar the state's regulated utilities from making political contributions, under a citizen-led ballot measure known as State Proposition 2. The proposal would prohibit regulated gas and electric utilities, and companies holding more than $250,000 in government contracts, from donating, and would extend the ban to executives, their immediate family members and others closely connected to the companies.
In Ann Arbor, a separate initiative, Proposal E, would establish a board to direct the creation of a city-owned electric utility. That utility would replace DTE Energy as the city's supplier after a second vote. The two campaigns are not coordinated, according to the report, but both grew out of frustration over energy delivery and datacenters.
DTE Energy and Consumers Energy are among the nation's largest utilities and serve about 80% of Michigan's customers, the report said. The utility-aligned group opposing the spending ban, Protect MI Free Speech, has claimed the initiative violates free speech protections under the Citizens United ruling. The proposal's architects say they have found a way around that ruling. Consumers Energy spokesperson Katie Carey said in a statement to the Guardian that the proposal would shift influence toward wealthy national donors and special interests rather than remove money from politics.
Ann Arbor's city government filed a lawsuit this week claiming that Ann Arbor for Public Power proposed a charter amendment when a new utility requires a full charter revision. Brian Geiringer, executive director of Ann Arbor for Public Power, said the Michigan attorney general has already found that the proposal requires only an amendment. Protect MI Vote, an anti-Proposition 2 group affiliated with DTE, told the Detroit News that the fight would continue past November 3 and cost a lot of money to protect First Amendment freedoms.
Karlee Weinmann, a researcher with the Energy and Policy Institute, said the initiatives reflect public outrage over high bills, poor service and a lack of accountability. Christy McGillivray, co-chair of Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, said 93% of legislators took utility industry money in a recent session and cited recent polling showing 71% support statewide for the spending ban.