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River in Michigan

UP Energy Task Force 2nd Meeting Does a Deep Dive into Propane

The Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force’s second meeting (read our blog post about the first) was held in St. Ignace, Mich., on Aug. 5, just a stone’s throw from the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac. Under those waters is the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline, whose cloudy future is one of the big reasons Gov. Whitmer created the […]

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CUB of Michigan’s Comments on the MPSC Statewide Energy Assessment

Today, the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan filed the following comments on the Michigan Public Service Commission’s Statewide Energy Assessment (SEA). For background, here is what the MPSC’s website says about the SEA: MPSC Statewide Energy Assessment (SEA) Michigan experienced historically extreme cold weather from January 29, 2019 to February 1, 2019 due to a polar vortex.

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Shoreline in Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Why the UP Matters: Special Task Force on Upper Peninsula Energy Holds Its First Meeting

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has just over 300,000 people. That makes the entire peninsula less populated than each of the six largest counties in the Lower Peninsula. Most of the UP is closer to Wisconsin than to Lansing or Detroit. So why should those of us that live south of the Mackinac Bridge care

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Citizens Utility Board of Michigan Executive Director Amy Bandyk speaks at the Grand Rapids Clean Energy Forum on June 28, 2019. Charlotte Jameson, Michigan Environmental Council energy policy & legislative affairs director and board member for CUB of Michigan, is seated to Amy’s left, and Environmental Policy & Law Center Senior Attorney Margrethe Kearney is seated to Amy’s right.

How You Can Improve Utilities in Michigan – A Look at the 2019 Grand Rapids Clean Energy Forum

The life of an energy consumer can feel powerless. Your rates go up every year. Your monthly bill is determined by an indecipherable, dizzyingly complicated tariff. You endure long hold times and leave ignored messages when you contact your utility. You constantly hear about how energy use is killing the planet and that fixing climate

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Members of the public at a hearing

Members of the Public Make Their Voices Heard On DTE Energy’s Long-term Resource Plan

DTE Energy is the only choice of electricity provider for the vast majority of its 2.2 million customers across Southeast Michigan. So it makes sense that so many residents of the area crowded a conference room in downtown Detroit on June 20 for a public forum held by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) regarding

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Electrical lines in a neighborhood

Upper Peninsula Energy Issues Are In a State of Flux, and the Future of the U.P.’s Utility Customers Is At Stake

The fate of utility customers in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is approaching a crossroads. Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which supplies a significant amount of U.P. customers’ liquid propane for heating, is facing possible shutdown as the result of a dispute over the viability of the line. Meanwhile, solar power has been taking off in the U.P.

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