In the Shadow of America's Smokestacks, Virus Is One More Deadly Risk

By Hiroko Tabuchi

• May 17, 2020Updated 12:39 p.m. ET

This isn’t the first time Vicki Dobbins’s town has been forced to shelter in place.

Last year, the Marathon Petroleum refinery that looms over her neighborhood near Detroit emitted a pungent gas, causing nausea and dizziness among neighbors and prompting health officials to warn people to stay inside. When a stay-at-home advisory returned in March, this time for the coronavirus, “it was just devastating,” Ms. Dobbins said.

Ms. Dobbins, who is 76, later contracted Covid-19, and spent two weeks on oxygen in intensive care. Now she has a question. “Do the polluters in our area make us more susceptible to asthma, bronchitis, heart failure, cancers?” she asked. “Is the virus just going to be one of the ones added to that list?”

Read more ...

MPSC Decision on DTE's Rate Case

Sierra Club leaders,

This morning the Michigan Public Service Commission issued their final order for DTE's electric rate case. See the MPSC's press release below and our coalition's response here. Also see the MIRS Capitol Newsletter for the Sierra Club's involvment is this case especially activist Theresa Landrum.

I'd classify this as a nuanced victory, similar to DTE's IRP. The order leaves a few things to be desired, especially not addressing the disproportionate rate budrden placed on residential ratepayers compared to industrial customers. But it delivers on many important priorities that we advocated for, in particular the River Rouge and Belle River coal plants.

Here are the top items for our interests from the Commission's order:

• Cut DTE’s requested $351 million rate increase to $188 million. The 4.7% rate increase will amount to $7.18 more per month for an average American household.
• Stopped investment in the River Rouge coal plant and required development of a community transition plan. DTE will no longer waste customers’ money on a dirty, uneconomic plant which is a source of significant air pollution emissions for the country’s third-most polluted community, the 48217 zip code. DTE sought to recover $11.4 million in capital costs for River Rouge, to extend the life of it until 2022 and burn gases at the facility.
• Required DTE to perform a revised cost-benefit analysis of the Belle River coal plant with earlier retirement dates. The plant is currently not scheduled to retire until 2030, even though cheaper and cleaner energy sources are available.
• Denied DTE’s request to increase the monthly fixed residential charge. Fixed charges negatively impact low-income customers and seniors on a fixed income. The Commission also rejected DTE’s proposed fixed monthly bill and low-income renewable energy pilots, encouraging the utility instead to work with stakeholders to develop stronger programs.
• Reduced DTE’s rate of profit to 9.9%. DTE originally sought to increase its rate of profit to 10.5%. 
• Cut 20% of its strategic capital fund due to misuse. DTE had been diverting the fund to storm response and not spending it fully on strategic investments in the distribution system. The Commission approved only that amount that DTE had previously demonstrated to spend on strategic investments. 

Thank you to the amazing legal team who handled our intervention in this rate case and made sure DTE was held accountable!

In solidarity,

Mike Berkowitz Michigan Campaign Representative Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign 248.345.9808 Mike.Berkowitz@sierraclub.org

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NEWS RELEASE Gretchen Whitmer, Governor Sally A. Talberg, Chairman Daniel C. Scripps, Commissioner Tremaine L. Phillips, Commissioner www.michigan.gov/mpsc FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   May 7, 2020  Media contact: Matt Helms 517-284-8300 Customer Assistance: 800-292-9555 MPSC approves DTE Electric rate increase as company works to modernize infrastructure, boost reliability   The Michigan Public Service Commission today approved a $188.3 million rate increase for DTE Electric Co. (Case No. U-20561), an increase authorized to include new investments in critical infrastructure, particularly the electric distribution system, to support electrical safety and reliability.  While there is significant need for the utility to replace and modernize aging infrastructure such as substations, poles, and wires to improve reliability, the increase approved was substantially lower than what DTE Electric had sought. The utility had requested a $351 million base rate increase. Instead, the Commission granted an increase of $188,285,000, 47 percent lower than requested. DTE Electric is authorized to implement the rate increase starting May 15.  DTE Electric said the key factors contributing to its projected shortfall are increased investments made in its critical infrastructure facilities to continue safe and reliable service to customers, and associated depreciation and property tax increases, in addition to an increase in operation and maintenance expense. The rate increase is based on the Commission’s review of DTE Electric’s investments, expenses and revenue projected for the 12-month period ending April 30, 2021.  Preliminary estimates are that a residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours of electricity per month would pay approximately $3.93 more per month, a 4.7% increase, starting with the June 2020 bill. The exact amount is still to be verified subject to a seven-day tariff review. The Commission notes that the impact of the increase on customer bills will be softened in the near term by DTE Electric’s recent announcement that it will pass along $30 million to $40 million in bill relief to its electric utility customers for the months of June and July, from savings realized through lower fuel prices spent on generating electricity.     Based on progress to date with tree trimming reducing power outages, the Commission authorized the extension of a multi-year tree trimming program through 2022. This extension will provide DTE Electric greater certainty for workplace attraction and retention in this critical area. Trees are a leading cause of power outages and can create safety hazards when trees come into contact with live electric wires. DTE Electric has more than doubled its tree trimming crews to support this safety and reliability work.    In other highlights from today’s order, the Commission:    Reduced DTE Electric’s authorized return on equity (ROE) from 10 percent to 9.9 percent, consistent with recent decisions in other cases, and maintained the electric utility’s 50-50 debt-to-equity ratio as a balanced capital structure for ratemaking purposes. The company’s overall authorized rate of return is 5.46 percent. DTE Electric had requested an ROE of 10.5 percent.  Disallowed $44 million in capitalized incentive compensation expense tied to the company’s financial performance indicators. This results in a one-time write off of $31 million to remove this amount from the rate base on a going forward basis. Consistent with past practice, the Commission authorized $3.6 million in incentive compensation tied to operational performance metrics as part of DTE’s operation and maintenance expense.  Disallowed over $160 million in capital expenditures at several of DTE Electric’s fossil-fueled plants based on insufficient support for the proposed funding level, potential changes to environmental rules, or uncertain project timing. The Department of Attorney General, Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity (ABATE), Commission Staff and other parties raised concerns about a lack of specificity on project scope, funding and timing. For DTE Electric’s River Rouge plant, the Commission rejected the utility’s request to recover approximately $11.4 million in historical and new capital costs to convert the plant from burning coal to a combination of industrial waste and natural gases. The River Rouge plant is down to one unit, which was slated to close in 2020. The Commission called for a community transition plan to be filed as part of DTE Electric’s next rate case. The plan should address public input DTE Electric has received through public meetings in River Rouge or other outreach to communicate the utility’s plans with the community and receive input from community members.   Directed DTE to provide a revised cost-benefit analysis of its Belle River power plant using alternate retirement dates, consistent with the Commission’s recent decision in DTE Electric’s recent integrated resource plan (Case No. U-20471).  Disallowed funding for numerous information technology projects, $61 million in capital and $1.1 million in operations and maintenance expense, based on insufficient justification or detail on the costs, need, or timing. With a review of IT project-level detail and support being difficult to predict even two years into the future, and given the cost and operational impacts, they present significant risk to the company and customers. The Commission recommended DTE Electric develop a comprehensive information technology plan in coordination with the Commission, Staff, and stakeholders. The plan would strategically and holistically assess IT needs, solutions, risk management, security, and decision-making approaches to support the utility’s customer, business, and operational functions. * Directed DTE Electric to include performance metrics and timelines as part of its long-term electric distribution plan to be submitted to the Commission in 2021 given the pressing need to improve electric reliability, such as reducing the number and duration of outages.  Maintained its production cost allocation methodology based on 4 coincident peak 75-0-25 for allocating costs between different customer classes.  Approved continuation of special rates for eligible low-income customers, including the ability for DTE Electric to continue to enroll customers if enrollments exceed the amount included in rates.  Rejected DTE Electric’s proposed pilots for fixed bill and low-income renewable energy but suggested the utility continue to work with the Commission, the Staff and stakeholders on the development of programs.  Recommended reconsideration of the timing to roll out on-peak summer rates for residential customers given potential challenges with near-term implementation and delay in the initial pilot programs.  Maintained a monthly customer charge of $7.50 for residential customers. In addition to the Attorney General, ABATE and MPSC Staff, intervenors in the case were the Michigan Cable Telecommunications Association; Kroger Co.; Michigan Environmental Council; Natural Resources Defense Council; Sierra Club; Citizens Utility Board; Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association; Residential Customer Group; Environmental Law and Policy Center; Ecology Center; Solar Energy Industries Association; Vote Solar; Utility Workers Union of America Local 223; Energy Michigan; Foundry Association of Michigan; Soulardarity; Central Transport, LLC; Central Transport, Inc.; Crown Enterprises, Inc.; Detroit International Bridge Company; Universal Truckload Services, Inc., and Wal-Mart Inc.    MPSC Chairman Sally Talberg noted that rate cases are subject to a 10-month statutory deadline for the Commission to issue a final decision, and she expressed appreciation for the efforts by the administrative law judge, Staff, and parties to bring this case to a timely resolution, especially given the challenging circumstances with the COVID-19 pandemic.  “The Commission does not take lightly its decision to authorize DTE to raise its rates but we are bound by law to issue a decision now,” Talberg said. “There are pressing needs to upgrade aging infrastructure to ensure safe, reliable electric service.”    Talberg added, “The MPSC has worked closely with other state departments, social service agencies and utilities across the state to strengthen shutoff protections and assistance programs for vulnerable households, and we encourage anyone with financial challenges to not wait and to reach out now for help.”     Residential utility customers may contact their utilities, call 211 or go to www.mi211.org for help. Additional information on assistance is available on the MPSC’s website.      To look up cases from today’s meeting, access the E-Dockets filing system here.  To watch recordings of the MPSC’s meetings, click here.  For information about the MPSC, visit www.Michigan.gov/MPSC, sign up for one of its listservs, or follow the Commission on Twitter.  DISCLAIMER: This document was prepared to aid the public’s understanding of certain matters before the Commission and is not intended to modify, supplement, or be a substitute for the Commission’s orders. The Commission’s orders are the official action of the Commission.   # # # Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

Sierra Club Files Antitrust Complaint Concerning the NEXUS Gas Pipeline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thursday, November 17, 2016

 

Contact: Jonathon Berman, (202) 495-3033, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org

 

View as webpage

 

Sierra Club Files Antitrust Complaint Concerning the NEXUS Gas Pipeline

 

Washington, DC -- The Sierra Club has filed a complaint against Michigan’s largest electric utility, DTE Electric Company, alleging that a 250-mile, multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project owned by its affiliate, NEXUS Gas Transmission, LLC, threatens to monopolize the market for the generation of electricity in Michigan. The complaint alleges that the pipeline project, if permitted to continue, will raise retail electricity customers’ rates above competitive levels and exclude more cost-effective energy suppliers, including renewable energy sources.

 

The complaint was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), United States Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission. It alleges that while electric utilities like DTE Electric have legal monopolies to sell electricity to ratepayers, they cannot use that monopoly to gain control over the market for generating capacity. According to the complaint, the NEXUS project uses DTE Electric’s power to charge ratepayers for the project’s above-market costs in order to expand its presence in the generation market. DTE Electric already controls about 50% of the local electricity generation market, according to the complaint.  

 

“The dirty and dangerous NEXUS project is a payoff scheme for corporate polluters with Michigan consumers footing the bill,” said David Holtz, Chair of the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club. “Solar and wind power continues to be a better and cheaper alternative to dirty fuels, which only gives further indication as to the real reason behind this pipeline.”

 

The Sierra Club’s complaint comes on the heels of an antitrust complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission by a retired Department of Justice Antitrust Division attorney regarding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project, a 600-mile proposed gas pipeline co-owned by electric utilities Dominion Resources and Duke Energy. According to the latter complaint, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline gives Dominion and Duke unlawful monopoly power in the market for utility-scale electricity generation.

 

“Our complaint shows that there is no plausible competitive justification for DTE Electric to make a long-term commitment to buy gas at above-market prices,” said Pat Gallagher, Director of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program. “The federal competition authorities should take notice because ratepayers, the environment, and competition in the generation market all are harmed by this deal.”

 

Both complaints add to increasing scrutiny and criticism of the overexpansion of gas pipeline capacity throughout the United States. The Sierra Club’s complaint refers to statistics published by the United States Energy Information Administration showing that 46% of the nation’s gas pipeline capacity is unused, even as new pipeline projects continue to be approved by federal regulators. The Club’s complaint highlights perverse incentives toward overbuilding gas pipelines that arise when the pipelines are owned and operated by utility affiliates, pointing out that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission typically allows high profit margins on new pipeline projects, even as state regulators permit developers to pass off the costs of pipeline construction to retail ratepayers. According to the complaint, “the combination of abnormally high profit margins with the ability to shift project risks to ratepayers creates a powerful incentive to overbuild natural gas pipelines.” The Complaint charges that DTE Electric has taken the trend of overexpansion one step further by using this low-risk, high-profit transaction structure to gain control over the market for the generation of electricity in Michigan.

 

The Club’s FTC complaint in the FERC proceeding is part of a motion to dismiss filed on November 16 by Michigan members who oppose NEXUS’ application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. There, the Club charges that DTE’s ratemaking scheme is clearly not in the public interest.  “DTE’s machinations fall well short of the Commission’s expectation that the pipeline must not penalize existing customers,” said Terry Lodge, attorney for the Michigan Sierrans. “NEXUS flatly refuses to consider any alternatives but a greenfield pipeline, built on the backs of residential and business customers. We believe that violates the Commission’s environmental and consumer-protective mandates and are asking FERC to say ‘no’ to NEXUS.”

 

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About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.4 million members and supporters nationwide. In addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org.

Michigan Chapter Update - May 1, 2016

"DTE makes us sick!" Take the next step in our fight for justice

Michigan Chapter Update - October 4, 2015

DTE's rate structure and lack of accountability is harming Michigan communities; The solution? Off the grid LED lighting!

DTE's rate structure and lack of accountability is harming Michigan communities

The solution? Off the grid LED lighting!

By Jackson Koeppel

In 2011, the City of Highland Park, MI, home to the world’s first automated assembly line, first mile of paved road, and first depressed urban freeway, lost over 1000 city streetlights to repossession by DTE Energy. The city had been unable to pay a $65,000 per month energy bill for some time and racked up $4 million in municipal electric debt. Amidst already staggering poverty and collapsing infrastructure, residents of this majority black city in the center of Detroit had to sit and watch their streetlights be removed and carted off. Go to youtube and search ‘Highland Park in the Dark: DTE Removes Streetlights’ if you don’t believe me.

In response, I helped to form Soulardarity, a community organization formed around the installation of community-owned off-grid solar streetlights. Since 2012 we have installed two pilot projects and inspired the city and county to collaborate on an off-grid solar lighting project for the Ernest T. Ford Recreation center. Soulardarity is currently in the process of forming into a membership organization that will pursue off-grid solar street lighting, energy efficiency, and community education and organizing to build a democratic and equitable energy system.

Recently, Highland Park invested in high-efficiency LEDs for some of their remaining lights,

along with many other municipalities in southeast Michigan. DTE publicly encouraged this

investment. The city of Ypsilanti, for instance, spent $500,000 converting their streetlights to

LEDs on a promise of saving at least $120,000 annually. Now, DTE has put forward a rate case that would raise the operating rates of LED lighting, while lowering the operating rates of sodium bulbs, significantly diminishing the payback for cities which invested in upgrading their lighting. Twenty-four municipalities are intervening in this rate case for lack of any good reason that LED lighting should be so much more expensive to maintain.

It is almost convenient that Highland Park was so brutally wracked by the repossession - at least the con didn’t cost us as much. Starting from scratch, it is actually more affordable to install off-grid solar-powered lighting than lighting tied to the rising cost of fossil fuels and the desperation of an obsolete monopoly. It indicates to me that cities everywhere should be paying attention to places like Highland Park, where the devastation wreaked by an economy designed for gambling addicts is most acute, and where the transformation to a new one is actually possible.

At a DTE shareholder meeting last week, I asked Gerald Anderson, DTE’s board chairman, face-to-face, why this rate case is being advanced. He said, and this is almost word-for-word, that LED streetlights used such little energy that they need to raise fixed costs to pay for their infrastructure.

Let that sink in.

If your community reduces its energy use, DTE is going to raise rates to pay for their coal plants and nuclear plants, transmission lines, transformers - even though you’re using them less. The message is clear: DTE cares more about their investors than the communities they serve. They aren’t going to help us make an energy economy that works for our communities unless we demand it.

This is not the first, or the last, time that DTE will double-cross our communities. We know that they will fight tooth and nail against efforts to make our own energy . We know that they have money - but we have something better. This regional collaboration to intervene in the LED rate case could be the beginning of the transformation I’ve been having fever dreams and powerful conversations about. I hope it is, because I’m keenly aware that we are on a tight schedule to avoid catastrophic, old testament, seven plagues-style climate collapse. We’re already feeling it - last year, Highland Park got six inches of rain in 24 hours in an event that cost Michiganders over $1 billion. 

So Michigan, it’s time to get serious. Let’s work together to build a new energy economy like our lives depend on it - because they do.

Jackson Koeppel is Co-Director of Soulardarity, a community organization working on solar lighting and energy democracy in Highland Park, MI. You can learn more at www.soulardarity.com and reach him at 917 554 3741 or jackson.soulardarity@gmail.com

Clean Energy Advocates Call on DTE to be Accountable to Michigan Shareholders & Ratepayers

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Clean Energy Advocates Call on DTE to be Accountable to Michigan Shareholders & Ratepayers

Michigan shareholders and ratepayers hold press conference outside DTE Headquarters to represent Southeast Michigan’s missing voices from DTE shareholder meeting in NYC

DETROIT – Dozens of ratepayers and shareholders gathered in front of DTE Energy’s headquarters today as Michigan’s largest utility held its annual shareholder meeting in New York City, far from its ratepayers and those affected by its corporate policies. The clean energy advocates raised concerns about DTEs dependence on coal, which poses a health risk for residents and a financial risk for shareholders. Clean Energy Now members spoke to an empty chair, symbolizing DTE CEO Gerry Anderson and the board who refused to face concerned shareholders in the utility’s hometown. The group delivered thousands of comments and petitions from DTE’s ratepayers across Southeast Michigan calling on DTE to support clean energy and energy efficiency as well.

“Ratepayers and shareholders are paying a heavy price as a consequence of DTE’s dependence on dirty energy. Michigan ratepayers shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of the utility’s risky business decisions,” said Frank Zaski, a DTE shareholder and ratepayer from Franklin.  “Instead of investing in aging infrastructure to continue to burn dirty coal or building an unneeded and extremely costly nuclear plant, DTE has the opportunity to earn returns on large capital investments in clean renewable energy, unleashing innovation and creating thousands of jobs for Michigan workers in new industries.”

Southeast Michigan is home to DTE Energy’s dirty and outdated coal plants, which emit enormous amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, mercury, soot, smog and particulate matter. Recent studies have linked these contaminants to numerous health problems, including: heart disease, childhood asthma, lung disease and neurological impairment, particularly in infants.  Currently, almost every coal plant owned by DTE has been cited for environmental violations, with several lawsuits against the company by environmental agencies and organizations pending.   

“My kid deserves better, and so do all of the children of southeast Michigan,” said Nicole O’Brien, a concerned mother and ratepayer in Beverly Hills. “It’s shameful DTE is avoiding listening to parents who have kids with health problems. We know these plants are making people sick, yet DTE continues to rely on coal as our major energy source. I’m encouraging DTE to do the right thing and to open their ears to the voices of concerned Michigan residents. It’s long overdue we transition away from coal and embrace renewable energy alternatives to clean up our state and to prevent pollution from harming our kids.”

Douglas Myers, resident of River Rouge who deals with pollution from DTE’s River Rouge coal plant daily, traveled to the New York City annual meeting and said he “felt it necessary to make our voices heard during DTE’s shareholder meeting in NYC for the future of the Downriver Area as well as others that have been at risk for quite sometime due to the dependency of DTE's use of  antiquated coal-fired power plants.”

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), electric rates in Michigan are higher than in 38 other states and are among the highest in the country. Michigan rates were up eight percent last year, compared to rates across the country that were up one percent. By transitioning away from expensive, dirty coal to renewable sources like wind and solar power and by maximizing energy efficiency, DTE could save ratepayers money.  DTE has not made significant investments or commitments to bolster energy efficiency and renewable energy sources beyond the minimum required by state law, publicly stating that no further decisions on clean energy mandates should be made until after the current ones expire in 2015.

In 2012, DTE spent more than $11.8 million to defeat a referendum to raise Michigan’s renewable energy requirements to the same level as found in several neighboring states, despite private acknowledgement that the increased renewable requirement would not harm the company financially.  DTE is also artificially limiting its energy efficiency programs though they are the cheapest form of power. The shareholders and ratepayers at the event today called on DTE to embrace clean energy to help lower costs for ratepayers and to protect Michigan’s air and water.

 

“DTE needs to answer to Michigan residents instead of hiding in New York,” says Dan Marcin, shareholder and PhD candidate in economics from Ann Arbor. “We're calling on DTE to embrace clean, renewable energy to save ratepayers money, and to protect the health and well-being of middle class Michigan families. Let’s launch DTE out of the past and into a cleaner, brighter future. We can only move forward together if DTE’s CEO Gerry Anderson will listen to our collective concerns, and together we are rallying for change.”

Groups that delivered petitions and public comments on Thursday included: Clean Water Action, Ecology Center, Progress Michigan, Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists  .

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Clean Energy Now is a collaboration of nearly 50 non-profit organizations in Michigan working to move our state toward a clean energy future.

Clean Energy Advocates to DTE: Stop Attacking Pollution Rules

Monday, April 15th 2013

Contact:  Tiffany Hartung, 248-933-2451, tiffany.hartung@sierraclub.org,

Utility ignores coal’s costly health problems in push for dirtier air

DETROIT – Members of Clean Energy Now (CEN) are urging DTE Energy to stop pushing Congress to roll back air pollution rules for its aging coal-fired power plants.

DTE has posted an online petition, entitled “Keep Our Power Affordable,” calling on U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D) and Senator Levin (D) to loosen existing federal limits on coal plant pollution set by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which include the neurotoxin mercury, other heavy metals, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, and particulate matter--all tied to serious health effects. The company claims the pollution rules cost too much money.

“It’s shameful to think DTE would try to mislead Michigan residents under the guise of saving money,” said Eric Keller with Clean Water Action. “If DTE gets its way, and sticks with dirty coal, we’ll pay more for health care instead of paying less for electricity by investing in less-expensive renewable energy and the world’s cheapest power source--energy efficiency.”

Studies show renewable energy sources like wind and dramatically step up its investment in customer energy efficiency, and saving on utility costs. Health advocates know there is a greater cost on Michigan residents’ health by using coal as a power source.

“As a nurse, I know the high human cost our residents suffer from the use of outdated, dirty coal for our energy,” said Joyce Stein, a registered nurse at the University of Michigan Health System. “The dirty air and water produced by coal-fired plants can cause higher rates of asthma, lung disease and other illnesses, especially in children, and contributes to hundreds of deaths. DTE’s efforts to stop the EPA from enforcing scientific pollution standards will only put more lives at risk.”

According to a report from the Clean Air Task Force, DTE’s Belle River, River Rouge, St. Clair and Trenton Channel coal-fired power plants collectively contribute to 267 premature deaths, 434 heart attacks and 4,180 asthma attacks each year. The Sierra Club has filed suit against the company for more than 1,400 Clean Air Act violations at its aging coal plants--violations that can harm public health.

“The Sierra Club is pursuing its lawsuit because 1,400 Clean Air Act violations are appalling,” said Brad van Guilder with Sierra Club. “DTE shouldn’t get a ‘get out of jail free’ card for these violations. It’s time for the utility to start taking responsibility for the negative health effects of coal pollution. We’re calling on DTE to make clean, renewable energy a priority to save ratepayers’ money and protect their health.”

DTE draws 80 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants--one of the highest percentages in the state. The rising cost of coal in Michigan has pushed up DTE’s rates and made Michigan the Midwest’s most expensive power market.

Meanwhile, studies continue to confirm that clean sources of energy like wind and solar--and efficiency projects for homes and businesses--have created thousands of jobs in Michigan. Moving away from coal power and toward more renewables and efficiency would create many more good-paying, non-exportable jobs.

“It’s obvious DTE has more interest in defending its outmoded business model than in behaving more responsibly, embracing the change that’s sweeping the energy world, and boosting investments in affordable renewable energy,” said Nicole O’Brien, ratepayer and concerned resident from Lake Orion. “Now is the time for DTE to leave coal in the past and help lead Michigan toward a clean, more prosperous energy future.”

BACKGROUND:

DTE Website- http://www.dteenergy.com/dteEnergyCompany/aboutDTEEnergy/

DTE “Keep Power Affordable” link- http://www.keepourpoweraffordable.com/

Clean Energy Now petition to transition to clean energy: www.cleanenergynowmi.org/take-action

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