Overview
- The infrastructure of Michigan’s electricity grid is failing to keep up with the demand for all-electricity. Rates are rising and the goal of reducing man-made carbon emissions to combat global warming is being pursued. Ann Arbor advocates for municipal or community electricity utilities believe that switching from a centralized, privately owned utility provider to one that is owned by the local government or another state agency will provide better service for the public. They argue that changing the ownership of power supplies is safer, more efficient, and more beneficial for the public than a system that prioritises profits. Ann Arbor for Public Power, a grassroots organizationA group of citizens from the city is pushing for such a strategy.
- Ann Arbor plans to adopt a strategy called Community Choice Agregation. Some say it is safer and more cost-effective than switching to municipal power. Ann Arbor’s A2Zero Plan aims to have the city completely powered by renewables by 2027. The CCA section of the plan requires spending to cover the cost of negotiating clean energy from solar or wind producers on behalf city residents and businesses. It also covers bulk purchases of battery storage. Customers will pay rates similar to DTEs. (Source: https://www.a2gov.org/departments/sustainability/Documents/A2Zero%20Climate%20Action%20Plan%20_4.0.pdf)
- Both strategies involve reducing GHG emissions. DTE, a Detroit-based provider of power to Ann Arbor has raised concerns about changing the status quo. DTE owns Ann Arbor’s poles and wires, and they have plans for reducing coal-generated power and GHG emission, though it will take longer and less than Ann Arbor expects. DTE has committed that they will reduce carbon emissions to net zero in all of our electric utility services.Electricity emissions have been reduced by 25% since 2005, and it is expected to reach 2050. levels. DTE asserts that the costs of shifting away from natural gas generation to create infrastructure that relies upon renewable sources like wind and solar are high. (Source: https://dtecleanenergy.com)
- House Democratic Floor Leader, 53rd House District, Yousef Rabhi is currently working on legislation to hold energy companies financially accountable through a stronger outage credits. He also supports shifting towardMunicipally-owned utilities.
Transcription
David Fair: As we see the increasing effects of climate change, it will be more important to determine our energy future as we become more aware of the need to change. We also know change is hard. This week’s Issues of the Environment is hosted by David Fair. Ann Arbor and other cities are currently discussing the possibility of moving away from centralized, profit-oriented utilities and towards non-profit, municipally owned and operated power generation. Today’s guest is having these conversations both in his district and at the state-level. Yousef Rabhi from Ann Arbor is the 53rd State House Representative District and serves in Lansing as House floor leader. Again, thank you for your time. I do appreciate it.
Yousef Rabhi It’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having us.
David Fair: You know that there is no cheap or easy way to create a more sustainable and greener energy future. But it would be nice if it were easy and inexpensive, wouldn’t you?
Yousef RabhiIt would. Yes, it is now. The time is now. We can see that even with days like today where it’s warming up in mid-winter, we must act quickly.
David Fair: I’m not sure if you know this but you have been involved with environmental strategy and action for a while. Adopt a Stream was a program that exposed you to environmental protection at a young age. After graduating Huron High School, your University of Michigan degree was a Bachelor of Science and Environmental Science. It also included a specialization for urban planning and ecosystems administration. Although that’s a great foundation to have, as we move forward towards a sustainable future, has your learning curve increased?
Yousef Rabhi It’s been a different set of challenges to be a state legislator. Trying to bring in viewpoints and perspectives from across the state, and people who may not understand the same things as I do, or have different backgrounds, has been challenging.
David Fair: It is your responsibility to let the public know about it. As it stands now, I believe most people appreciate the central energy systems provided by DTE/Consumers Energy. There is a healthy amount of skepticism about some areas of customer service, and large-scale commitments to greener initiatives. You’ve had many interactions with utilities since you took office and became a legislator. What do you see that we don’t?
Yousef Rabhi Yeah. David, that’s a great question. This topic is very important to me today. As a legislator, you know that I have led the charge on environmental topics and introduced legislation for a greener energy future in Michigan. Unfortunately, every bill I’ve introduced or introduced about clean energy has been blocked by the utilities. They have used their lobby power. They used their money in Lansing to oppose things like making it easier to install solar panels on roofs. They have fought this tooth and nail. They are using their influence and power to not create change on the environment front, but to maintain the status quo so they can control messaging, the system, and their profits. That’s the essence of this whole thing.
David Fair: This is 89-1 WEMU. We are talking to Yousef Rabhi of Ann Arbor about issues of the Environment. In return for giving these utilities monopolies, they agree to regulatory oversight. However, the Public Service Commission always guarantees them annual profits. This is a part of the system’s structure. Do you think that is an appropriate incentive for utilities to accelerate a shift towards more pervasive renewables.
Yousef Rabhi The main problem with our utilities in Lansing right now is their ability to exert influence through their campaign contributions or their dark money accounts. They can use corporate dollars to influence elections. In 2018, I believe, they used approximately $50 million of our money in rates to influence elections across the State. They are the fox guarding their henhouse, so to say they’re a regulated monolith is a bit misleading. They have been able sway and influence elections to the point that legislators are afraid to hold them responsible and push legislation that they don’t like, such as green energy legislation.
David Fair: Ann Arbor is currently looking into a municipally-owned and not-for profit power source. Others around the country are also considering it. Ann Arbor is now considering a municipally-owned, non-profit operating system, or what is known as community choice aggregation. How does this work?
Yousef Rabhi I think municipalization is the best option. It is currently allowed by state law. There are no changes that need to be made. There are some things that still need to be changed in state law regarding community choice aggregation. However, many cities in the state have their own municipal utilities. We have the city, Chelsea, in Washtenaw county. David, another thing I’d like to mention is that municipal utilities perform better when it comes to reliability of our energy grid. They restore power quicker when you look at the data. There are fewer outages. You will find that the rates charged by municipal utilities are generally lower than those we pay to for-profit entities. This is because a portion from our bill goes to their profits, which hover around 10%. They made $2 billion in profit in 2020 between DTE and Consumers. And that’s their money. They’re sending it back to Wall Street investors. They don’t reinvest that money in grid projects. This is all the money that’s leaving our country. This money is leaving our pockets. All that money would be local if there was a municipal utility. It would be invested on the grid and used to fund a greener energy future.
David Fair: Yet, utilities are stating that they believe that the total investment required would ultimately result in little or no reduction of the energy burden for customers of any given municipality.
Yousef Rabhi I think that the messaging is intended to protect their bottom lines. Because if we remove ourselves from their system, we won’t be able to pay them their promised 10% profits. The municipal system is a way for us to control our energy future, and to make the right decisions from both an environmental and accountability standpoint. We can hold our elected officials, and our municipal power authority officials, accountable if there are too many outages. They are accountable to us through a democratic process. Contrary to the DTE and Consumers of the World, who are completely unaccountable because of the way they have spread their money around Lansing, and can basically sway the entire process in their favor, basically at all turns. This is the real difference in what we are talking about. It will be a substantial investment. Probably. However, the truth is that we are already paying this out of pocket. We are paying higher rates now than we need. We are sending $2 billion between Consumers, DTE and our system. This money is not being invested locally. We could be investing those dollars in a greener energy future with those dollars. David, I also want to mention that what utilities have been announcing regarding their own green energy goals, I would call it greenwashing. They have said that they want net zero by 2050. Unfortunately, net zero is misleading because it means that they can still emit CO2 as long as there are carbon offsets. They have been reinvesting more money in natural gas which is not a clean energy source. It is a fuel that is extremely dangerous for the environment. Methane gas is actually more harmful than CO2. Although the point of emissions from a lot of these natural-gas facilities is lower than CO2, the reality of the matter is that the emission rates at the extraction sites and along the pipeline are extremely high. The greenhouse gas effect is exacerbated by the fact that a lot of natural gases are lost to the atmosphere. These utilities are actually perpetuating, and even furthering, climate change by increasing their natural gas investment. You need to understand the fine print. They are often misleading and greenwashing, no matter what their stated goals. They aren’t making sustainable investments for a green future.
David Fair: We’re speaking with Yousef Rakhi on 89 of the WEMU’s Environment Issues. You mentioned reliability and sustainability of the power grid, as well as the investment required to maintain it. It was suggested that a municipal system might be more beneficial. Does this include grid security as a whole, including cyberattacks and power outages? Are local governments well-positioned for providing the level of security that consumers and businesses require?
Yousef Rabhi They are actually better positioned in many ways, according to me. We can create redundancy in our grid. I support home solar because you can install solar panels in your own home. DTE and Consumers continue to fight against every piece we have introduced. Michigan has a one percent cap for distributed generation solar panels. We’ve been trying increase that. The utilities have resisted. We have been trying to make solar energy more affordable for people. The utilities have resisted. They want to keep their power under control. However, if you look at areas like Lansing that have municipal utilities, you’ll see that they allow solar installation on rooftops. They even offer incentives. They are offering $2000 to each household who wants to put solar panels on their homes. It’s a municipally-owned utility. This is green energy priority. This is home solar being prioritized. Why is that important? It is possible to have distributed generation throughout the state, even in the event of a cyber attack. We can power the grid if we have distributed generation under everyone’s roof. Even though one plant is down and another is down, we can still make sure that our system has redundancy so that we aren’t dependent on one power source only or two large power suppliers. In fact, when you take a look at larger systems like DTE or Consumers, the likelihood that they can be attacked to take out large swathes power for large numbers is much greater.
David Fair: There is still a lot to do and many more conversations to have. I look forward to our next meeting.
Yousef Rabhi Excellent. David, thank you for this conversation. I truly appreciate you.
David Fair: This is Yousef Rabhi, 53rd District State House Representative from Ann Arbor. He also serves as the House floor leader for the Michigan House of Representatives. The Office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner produces Issues of the Environmental every Wednesday. This is David Fair, and it’s 89 one WEMU FM.
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