{"id":2872,"date":"2025-09-25T18:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T18:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/25\/ann-arbor-for-public-power-to-draft-ballot-proposal\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T18:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T18:49:11","slug":"ann-arbor-for-public-power-to-draft-ballot-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/25\/ann-arbor-for-public-power-to-draft-ballot-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Ann Arbor for Public Power to draft ballot proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After years of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/massive-power-outage-in-ann-arbor-leaves-thousands-in-the-dark\/\"> power outages<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/michiganadvance.com\/briefs\/ann-arbor-residents-plan-ballot-initiative-to-dump-dte-and-begin-shifting-city-toward-public-power\/\">high electricity bills<\/a>, Ann Arbor residents are pushing for an initiative to replace<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dteenergy.com\/\"> DTE Energy<\/a> with a city-managed energy source. On Sept. 2,<a href=\"https:\/\/annarborpublicpower.org\/\"> Ann Arbor for Public Power<\/a> announced plans to<a href=\"https:\/\/annarborpublicpower.org\/news\/press-releases\/a2p2-launches-2026-ballot-campaign\/\"> draft<\/a> a ballot proposal for the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/city-clerk\/elections\/\"> <\/a>November 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/city-clerk\/elections\/\">election<\/a> that would further the process of converting Ann Arbor\u2019s privatized power supply through DTE to a public,<a href=\"https:\/\/annarborpublicpower.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/A2P2-Fact-Sheet-Nov.pdf\"> municipal<\/a> one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While local policymakers are still discussing the proposal\u2019s exact language, according to the Sept. 2 press release, the proposal would create a public utility board in Ann Arbor to oversee the potential change to the city\u2019s energy supply.\u00a0 The proposal also plans for the purchase of DTE\u2019s power lines and a shift in energy sources from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebsco.com\/research-starters\/power-and-energy\/fossil-fuel-power-plants\"> fossil fuel-using power plants<\/a> to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatecentral.org\/news\/wind-solar-power-101\"> solar and wind farms<\/a>. Ann Arbor for Public Power needs 5,000 signatures to put the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>The board would set prices, offer assistance for low-income households and decide on climate-related goals, according to the press release. The board would also initially fund a feasibility study to determine the exact value of the equipment the city would purchase from DTE, and could begin its work in 2027 or 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Sean Higgins, member of Ann Arbor for Public Power, said after the feasibility study, the city of Ann Arbor and DTE would contest the price of acquisition in court before city residents vote on the purchase in a future election.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThe length of these types of court cases has varied, but from what I\u2019ve read, it seems to be on the scale of two years, maybe three,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cFollowing that, the city would put a decision to actually make this purchase and start running a utility on the ballot with that exact number to the citizens of Ann Arbor. \u2026 If that vote passes by 60%, then Ann Arbor can take control of this infrastructure and start running a utility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Daily, Brian Geiringer, executive director of Ann Arbor for Public Power, said the organization plans to buy all of its energy from renewable sources outside of the city. Ann Arbor residents will soon also have the option to opt in to the city\u2019s ongoing<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/sustainability-innovations-home\/sustainability-me\/ann-arbors-sustainable-energy-utility-seu\/\"> Sustainable Energy Utility<\/a>, which will supplement the energy they receive from DTE with renewable energy and allows them to use that power when DTE experiences outages.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Ann Arbor for Public Power proposal is to have all our electricity renewable as soon as possible, but it wouldn\u2019t be created here,\u201d Geiringer said. \u201cIt would be that, by taking over the poles and wires from DTE, Ann Arbor becomes a buyer on the energy market \u2014 on the grid \u2014 and can then purchase and hopefully incentivize renewable energy creation. So that\u2019s the real climate dream \u2014 to have Ann Arbor tell the energy economy in the region we are ready to buy all this renewable energy if you make it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Daily, LSA junior Victoria Jacobs, president of<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/umich.edu\/studentsforcleanenergy\/home\"> Students for Clean Energy<\/a>, said an increase in energy demand requires an increased investment in renewable energy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith our increasing tech and increasing population, energy demand is only going to go up,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cSo if we want to avoid exacerbating climate change \u2014 extreme weather patterns, global extinction of species, a decline in biodiversity \u2014 I know renewables is the only way to go. \u2026 Because Ann Arbor is such an integral city in the United States for technology innovation, I think this is exactly the place to jump-start that.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>In an email to The Daily, LSA senior Fiona Dunlop, an Ann Arbor for Public Power volunteer, criticized DTE for not making more of an effort to transition to renewable sources of energy, noting that only<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dteenergy.com\/us\/en\/residential\/community-and-news\/environment\/fuel-mix.html\"> 13% of DTE\u2019s electricity<\/a> is renewably sourced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDTE has all the money and all the power in the world to make meaningful, climate-friendly change now (after all, they are a monopoly in Southeast Michigan, so if they wanted to make big changes, they could),\u201d Dunlop wrote. \u201cBut we are not seeing that. On the contrary, only about 13% of DTE\u2019s electricity comes from renewable energy, and we\u2019re not seeing any fast changes on that front.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Geiringer cites DTE\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michiganlcv.org\/dte-energy-files-its-second-highest-rate-increase-request-ever\/\"> proposed<\/a> $574 million rate increase as a reason for increased support for public energy. He estimates that buying out DTE would be financially beneficial for Ann Arbor in the future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter 30 years, this will only be more and more of a cash cow for Ann Arbor, and that\u2019s the case in other places that have public power,\u201d Geiringer said. \u201cI think we\u2019ll also see an increase in equity \u2014 the possibility for programs that help low-income people pay their bills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, in an email to The Daily, DTE spokesperson Ryan Lowry wrote that a study commissioned by the company determined that city-run electricity would actually raise rates for customers.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWhen it comes to municipalization, studies show Ann Arbor will be saddled with at least $2 billion of new debt and rates will increase for residents and businesses 30-40% overnight,\u201d Lowry wrote.<\/p>\n<p>DTE also argued that its<a href=\"https:\/\/dtecleanenergy.com\/\"> CleanVision Integrated Resource Plan<\/a>, proposed in 2022, intends to end coal use by 2032 and have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Michigan state law requires energy companies to submit an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/mpsc\/regulatory\/electricity\/resource-planning\"> Integrated Resource Plan<\/a> every five years. The Michigan Public Service Commission<a href=\"https:\/\/ir.dteenergy.com\/news\/press-release-details\/2023\/Michigan-Public-Service-Commission-approves-DTEs-landmark-clean-energy-plan\/default.aspx\"> approved<\/a> DTE\u2019s plan, which follows all state<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/mpsc\/commission\/workgroups\/2023-energy-legislation\"> regulations<\/a>. Additionally, DTE\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/advantage.dteenergy.com\/business\/p\/ROOFTOP_SOLAR#about\"> Rider 18 Distributed Generation Program<\/a> compensates DTE customers for the excess electricity they generate through solar panels.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Geiringer said while DTE has said it intends to stop using coal, it will shift to non-renewable<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/energyexplained\/natural-gas\/\"> natural gas<\/a> over renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen they talk about getting rid of coal, if you are even to believe it, they are only doing so to replace it with fossil gas,\u201d Geiringer said. \u201cAlthough people have falsely tried to claim (natural gas is) somehow greener than other fossil fuels, the new data shows that methane leakage from fossil gas makes as much or more of a greenhouse impact than even burning coal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lowry contested that DTE has recently improved service and remains committed to clean energy.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cDTE Energy is committed to delivering a reliable, affordable and clean energy future for Ann Arbor,\u201d Lowry wrote. \u201cWe are on pace to invest $360 million in infrastructure improvements in the city from 2019 to 2029, dramatically improving reliability. And customers are seeing results. In fact, DTE customers in Ann Arbor experienced a nearly 90% improvement in time spent without power between 2023 and 2024, and they are seeing continued improvements this year, with more than 70% improvement compared to the same period in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Geiringer told The Daily Ann Arbor could start a trend by replacing DTE with public power, inspiring similar changes in the rest of the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough there\u2019s a lot of public power in Michigan, all of which is cheaper, more reliable and more renewable than DTE, none of those public power utilities underwent the process that we are undergoing of taking over the power from a private utility,\u201d Geiringer said. \u201cSo if we did it, it would make places like Detroit, places like Ypsilanti, able to do so much easier. DTE also is afraid that we would start a precedent, and that (cities) would continue to fight these fights. That is one of the reasons they\u2019re very intent on stopping us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Higgins said residents are joining together for a common goal, one that encapsulates the innovative spirit of Ann Arbor,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickondetroit.com\/all-about-ann-arbor\/2019\/10\/10\/how-did-ann-arbor-get-its-name\/\"> named<\/a> in part for its groves of trees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs someone who grew up here in Ann Arbor, I think of this city as one that cares very deeply about nature and the environment \u2014 to an extent, it\u2019s sort of in the name,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cI think that this movement is really all about putting the power of people and the citizens of Ann Arbor over the profits that go to the shareholders. And I think that everybody can get behind that.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><em>Daily Staff Reporter Dominic Apap can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/ann-arbor-for-public-power-to-draft-ballot-proposal-for-november-2026-election\/mailto:dapap@umich.edu\">dapap@umich.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After years of power outages and high electricity bills, Ann Arbor residents are pushing for an initiative to replace DTE Energy with a city-managed energy source. On Sept. 2, Ann Arbor for Public Power announced plans to draft a ballot proposal for the November 2026 election that would further the process of converting Ann Arbor\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[242,243,2416,771,2261,3015,1419],"class_list":["post-2872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-ann","tag-arbor","tag-ballot","tag-draft","tag-power","tag-proposal","tag-public"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2872"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2874,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2872\/revisions\/2874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}