Article courtesy of MIRS for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
Under the banner of lowering residential energy costs, House Republican leadership Wednesday announced its commitment to repealing the 2023 law that requires electricity providers to run 100% on “clean energy” by 2040.
House Energy Committee Chair Pauline Wendzel (R-Watervliet) said she told the chamber in 2023 that passing the aggressive renewable energy standards would mean higher electric bills, and she said that’s proven to be the case.
In an attempt to ratchet them back down, her “Project Lighthouse” would prevent the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) from allowing “left-wing groups” like Soulardarity and “lobbyists like the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association” from advocating for more clean energy using rate payer dollars.
The plan ends utility rebates on LED bulbs and power strips while also repealing the “obscure requirements” that they believe have “slowed new construction to a crawl.”
The savings from these changes would be roped into the Republicans’ plan to force utility companies to lower rates by $1 billion.
Wendzel and House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) are focusing on an obscure body housed under the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) called the Utility Consumers Participation Board (UCPB).
This entity of gubernatorial appointees, created in 1939, received money from ratepayers in 1982 to advocate on their behalf for lower utility rates. The money is split between the attorney general’s office and the UCPB. In 2023, the UCPB’s role was expanded to include the affordability of electric service, but through the lens of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, public health, energy efficiency, weatherization and clean energy technologies.
In 2024, $2,135,371 in grants was distributed among the Michigan Environmental Council, the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, Soulardarity, Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association and the Michigan Municipal Association for Utility Issues, according to the UCPB’s 2024 report. The report showed that the groups saved customers $598 million in 2024 through their direct advocacy.
However, Hall sees these entities as using ratepayer money to promote a social position.
“They’re all using social and environmental justice,” Hall said. “They’re not focused on lowering your rates one bit. These guys, the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. They’re formed to expand clean, renewable energy in solar and wind. That’s what all of these groups are. They tell you that these groups are fighting to lower your rates. They’re not fighting to lower rates.
“They’re getting paid by you to force wind and solar on you, which is raising your rates, which is why we’re going to get rid of them,” Hall said.
Hall said these clean energy entities are supposed to be looking out for the ratepayers, but “they don’t give a shit about the ratepayers. Instead, what they’re doing is they’re paying lobbyists and activist groups, and they’re paying them to raise your rates.”
Charlotte Jameson, the chief policy officer for the Michigan Environmental Council, said the UCPB has saved Michigan consumers hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. She filed the idea of getting rid of the board under “penny-wise, pound-foolish.”
“It’s pretty galling to hear the speaker in a press conference attacking a group that has been responsible for keeping energy costs lower for Michiganders,” Jameson said. “The whole purpose of the board is to fund rate case interventions.”
She also argued that renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy generation while gas and coal are the most expensive.
“This wasn’t about energy affordability,” she said. “This was about scoring political points, and you can do that by ginning up people on a board that few know anything about.”
In the past, Hall said “loser Republicans” like Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney would pass bills to lower costs for utilities, then would turn around and use the savings to boost profits. The new Republicans are “fighting for working families” and inspired by President Donald Trump, Hall said at his weekly press conference.
The Speaker said the energy reform package is part of what is being called the HELP UP Plan – Hall Effectively Lower Property Taxes and Utility Payments (HELP-UP).
In other news from Wednesday’s press conference:
– Hall said the Legislature cannot wait until June to move a supplemental that spends $152 million for new runways at Selfridge Air Base, an idea that came from Senate Democrats who see using the spending plan as leverage to get House Republicans to finish the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget process by July 1.
“If we wait until June, we won’t meet the timeframe,” Hall said. “We got to do it by the end of Spring Break.”
Hall is concerned that if the state doesn’t get the ball rolling on improvements to the air base now, the federal government won’t be able to finish its improvements by the time Trump leaves office in 2028. And if Trump is no longer in office, his commitment to move the 21 F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets may fall apart.
– The Speaker took credit for Senate Majority Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) deciding not to seek a final term in the Senate when he endorsed Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) for the Senate Democratic leadership post in 2027.
“I was actually just trying to help Darrin Camilleri win their leadership because he would be much easier to beat in the negotiations, so I feel like Darrin Camilleri owes me,” Hall said.
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