Overview:

  • Detroit's city council voted unanimously to explore alternatives to DTE Energy after a tornado left thousands of residents without power.
  • The city ran a public electric utility until 2013, when it was facing bankruptcy.
  • The Michigan Municipal Electric Association says the state's public utilities saved customers over $400 million in 2023, and it expects Detroit may be watching Ann Arbor's Nov. 3 ballot proposal.

LANSING – Detroit’s defunct municipal utility may run again.

In a recent meeting, the city council voted unanimously to explore alternatives to DTE Energy after a tornado left thousands of residents without power.

The city had a public electric utility until 2013 when the city was facing bankruptcy.

Galen Hardy, the Michigan Environmental Council program director in Detroit, said he would like to see the city taking action on bringing back an independent utility.

Photo of a man wearing a yellow shirt and grey suit jacket.
Galen Hardy is the Detroit program director of the Michigan Environmental Council. Credit: Michigan Environmental Council

Council Member Gabrielle Santiago-Romero said: “I do not trust what we’re doing because we pay so much and we’re getting quite little. Quite frankly, I feel like we’re being robbed.”

Santiago-Romero said that the city’s Legislative Policy Division should look into what other cities are doing with public power.

The Michigan Municipal Electric Association represents the state’s 41 municipally owned electric utilities. The association provides services and education for member municipalities and those looking to make the shift.

The association’s executive director, Katie Abraham, said the state’s public electric utilities saved residents and businesses over $400 million in rates and reliability in 2023.

Abraham said that the affordability of public power is a big draw for people wanting their cities to municipalize electricity.

Photo of a woman with brown hair wearing a pink shirt.
Katie Abraham is executive director of the Michigan Municipal Electric Association. Credit: Michigan Municipal Electric Association

Abraham said reliability is also a leading factor.

“When it comes to reliability, our service territories are much smaller than the investor-owned utilities, so we can respond very quickly,” Abraham said.

“Our workers live in the community, they know when the lights go out and they’re there and they’re ready to respond.”

Abraham said that while she has not heard from the Detroit city government on municipalizing, she expects officials are waiting to see what happens with Ann Arbor, which has a proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot to create a municipal utility.

The association’s members include utilities in Traverse City, Marquette, Zeeland, Harbor Springs, Lansing, Newberry, L’Anse, Baraga and Escanaba.

Kiera Kemppainen reports for Capital News Service, a program of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Capital News Service

Spartan Newsroom provides news and information about campus and the surrounding Michigan State University community. Content is produced by students enrolled in classes at or participating in extracurricular clubs affiliated with Michigan State’s School of Journalism. Capital News Service reporters cover state government for member newspapers and digital media outlets across the state of Michigan.