Some progressive Democrats in the Michigan Legislature want to rein in the political spending power of utility companies that make big political donations in the state, but lawmakers acknowledged Wednesday that passing such a bill in Lansing would be a tough task.
Lawmakers and organizers from the “Taking Back Our Power” coalition held a press conference on Wednesday to announce that a bill will soon be introduced in the Senate that would ban electric and natural gas companies from donating to political candidates, as well as committees and nonprofits with ties to candidates. A similar bill was introduced in the House earlier this year.
Supporters of the plan say Michigan’s two largest utilities, Detroit-based DTE Energy and Jackson-based Consumers Energy, wield enormous influence over state politics and legislation, primarily because the companies donate thousands of dollars to elected officials each year.
Rep. Dylan Wegera, a Democrat from Garden City, introduced House Bills 5520 and 5521 in February, which would ban public benefit corporations from making donations to candidates, political parties, candidate-related nonprofits and political action committees (PACs).
In addition to banning donations to candidates and candidate committees, the bill would also ban donations to other nonprofit organizations with ties to politicians, including organizations whose board members include public officials, candidates or party officials.
DTE and Consumers have come under fire from lawmakers since a winter storm in February 2023 left hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents without power for days. After the storm, lawmakers held hearings where executives from both utilities testified about plans to harden the grid but acknowledged that severe storms are becoming more frequent in Michigan due to climate change and that if they continue, there will be more power outages.
Both DTE and Consumers have affiliated PACs and donate tens of thousands of dollars each quarter to campaigns and other PACs at the state and federal levels.
Sen. Rosemary Beyer, D-Keigo Harbor, criticized Michigan’s electricity reliability and costs, saying utilities are making profits without improving service. A review of 2023 reliability data ranks them among the worst-performing utilities in the nation when it comes to how long it takes to restore power after an outage.
“Money in politics in general is suffocating our country,” Beyer said. “Corporations’ disproportionate influence over government decision-making is a major reason for the ever-widening income gap between those who have everything and those of us who are struggling to pay our bills.”
Both DTE and Consumers say they are investing heavily in improving electric service in their service areas, including removing trees, burying power lines underground and replacing outdated parts of the grid. The two utilities are regulated by the Michigan Public Utilities Commission, a three-member body tasked with making sure utilities provide safe, reliable service at a fair cost. A Free Press investigation found that both DTE and Consumers have close ties to the MPSC.
In a statement provided to the Free Press, the utility defended its political engagement policy.
“Every day DTE is affected by decisions made by federal, state and local officials, so we have a duty to our customers and employees to support candidates for office who will help us achieve our purpose of providing safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy every day,” DTE spokesman Ryan Lawrie said.
Consumers spokeswoman Katie Carey said the company’s political contributions come from shareholder interests or voluntary employee contributions to the company’s political action committees, and do not come from revenue generated by customers.She also pointed to the Public Accountability Center’s 2023 Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability Index, which ranks Consumers among the companies with the highest levels of transparency in its political activities.
“We are a Michigan company and we are committed to helping Michigan thrive,” Carey said. “Along with many other stakeholders, we advocate through regular, constructive and transparent interactions with government officials, policymakers and stakeholder groups.”
Lawmakers have stepped up scrutiny of Michigan’s utility companies in the wake of the extended blackouts, but a House bill that would ban them from making political contributions has never been debated since it was introduced. It was referred to the House Government Operations Committee, a home for bills that are rarely debated or put to a vote on the full floor.
Supporters acknowledged Wednesday that the proposal has little chance of passing the House and Senate, both of which are held by slim Democrats. Campaign finance records show that members of both parties in the House and Senate have received political contributions from political action committees run by Michigan’s two largest utility companies.
Still, supporters of the proposal say it’s essential to keep up pressure on lawmakers to pass the bill or at least move it forward through the legislative process.
“It’s not just the leadership of both houses, but the public needs to realize that they really do have the power and they can force us to do whatever they want,” said Rep. Donavan McKinney, a Detroit Democrat.
Both DTE and consumer-backed PACs have contributed tens of thousands of dollars worth of contributions to both Democratic and Republican candidates, committees and caucus funds in Michigan in the first few months of 2024, according to the most recent quarterly campaign finance reports available.
DTE Energy PAC reported giving thousands of dollars worth of contributions to Michigan legislators and caucus campaign organizations in the first quarter of 2024. Donations of $10,000 were made to both the House Democratic and House Republican campaign committees, according to the quarterly report.
CMS Energy’s Employees for Better Government, a consumer PAC, also reported making thousands of dollars worth of donations in the first quarter of 2024. Its quarterly report from April detailed $5,000 donations to both the Senate Democratic Fund and the House Democratic Fund, as well as a $5,000 contribution to the House Republican campaign arm.
In addition to contributing to caucus funds, the utility companies’ political action committees also donated to leadership political action committees affiliated with Sen. Winnie Brinks, Democrat and Senate Majority Leader of Grand Rapids, and Sen. Aric Nesbitt, Republican of Porter Township. The committees also made dozens of direct donations to the campaigns of lawmakers in both parties, according to the latest filings.
Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said banning political contributions from electric and natural gas companies is similar to Michigan law that limits political contributions by casino owners, operators and suppliers.
“When casinos in Michigan first started, the public said they needed to understand that and make sure they had the leverage of this particular industry that has a very strong interest in monopolies, and make sure they’re not investing in Lansing and trying to overpower the public through the political process,” Irwin said. “And these laws have been in place for years and have worked well, and we want to apply that same type of structure to other regulated monopolies.”
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