News and Press Releases

"University of Michigan students and other members of activist group Ann Arbor for Public Power demonstrated along Huron Street ahead of a City Council meeting where city officials were considering the city’s energy future."

"As the resolution noted, the city’s A2Zero climate action plan calls for a transition to 100% renewable power by 2030. Municipalization is a legal and established means to achieve that goal, Ann Arbor for Public Power said, noting that 41 Michigan cities and towns operate public power utilities, and both the state constitution and city charter explicitly enable new ones."

With frustration growing over utility inaction with regard to climate change and clean energy, many are suggesting that municipalization (i.e., utility owned and operated by a local government versus an investor-owned utility) is the preferred answer to climate change and community sustainability. Greg Woodring, Ann Arbor Public Power will discuss municipalization as a preferred clean energy option for Michigan.

Joel chats with Greg Woodring of Ann Arbor for Public Power. A2P2 is an organization working to bring municipal power to Ann Arbor.

City Council voted 11-0 Tuesday night, Sept. 7, to ask the city’s Energy Commission to make a recommendation by Dec. 31 on whether the city should undertake a feasibility study to explore options.

“By having a municipal authority, we can democratize power delivery in this town,” said state Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor. “That means that all of us who for years and years have been going to rallies and saying, ‘Power to the people! Power the people!’ ... this is literally power to the people.”

“The recent multi-day power outage has prompted a lot of conversation in our community about improving the reliability of our electricity and the city’s relationship with DTE, specifically,” wrote Nelson in a recent blog posted on her website.

While DTE postures as an important ally in a swift transition to carbon neutrality, the facts paint a starkly different picture. With 58% of its electricity generated by coal, DTE is one of the dirtiest utilities in the country. The utility throws its political weight behind legislation that consolidates its power and hinders distributed generation. And with absurd rate hikes and notoriously unreliable service, DTE undermines local resilience.