ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — A grassroots organization in Ann Arbor will soon begin collecting signatures to make progress towards a public-owned electric utility, citing concerns about DTE's reliability and costs.
Watch Demetrios Sanders' video report below:
Ann Arbor for Public Power, led by President Sean Higgins, plans to begin collecting signatures Saturday for a ballot initiative that would ask voters about creating a public utility governing board.
"You know, you could say the acronym DTE stands for don't trust your energy," Higgins said.
Higgins, who has lived in Ann Arbor since he was 2 years old, said he has become accustomed to power outages and worries about energy reliability over the years. His organization is calling for the city to transition to 100% renewable energy and to split from DTE in favor of a publicly owned electric system.
The group points to cities like Lansing and Chelsea that have similar systems in place as examples of success.
"Consistently, these places tend to have much cheaper electricity, much more reliable electricity, and this is downstream of the economic model being more efficient," Higgins said.
If enough signatures are collected and voters approve the measure in November, a public utility governing board would be established. The board's members would then be elected during the 2028 election cycle.
The group emphasizes that this proposal would not authorize the acquisition of DTE's assets, which would require a separate vote.
"Such that, if Ann Arbor does decide to pursue public power at a full scale, it would be ready to do so," Higgins said.
Missy Stults, sustainability and innovations director for the city of Ann Arbor, said the city is already working on clean energy initiatives, including creating an optional supplemental sustainable energy utility.
"And what that means is, I happen to live in a home where we have solar and a battery when a storm runs through the community— I still have power because that solar system on my roof feeds my battery and I don't lose it," Stults said. "Ann Arborites want 4 things: they want resilient, reliable, clean, and affordable power."
DTE responded to the public power proposal in a statement, warning about potential costs to residents.
"When it comes to Ann Arbor for Public Power's government takeover proposals, the biggest risk for Ann Arbor residents is cost. Independent analyses — including estimates developed by the city — show a city takeover could require billions in new city debt with no guarantee of better reliability, cleaner energy, or affordability," the company said. "DTE remains focused on continuing to improve reliability, supporting Ann Arbor's clean energy goals, and keeping bills as low as possible, without asking residents to shoulder the financial risk of an uncertain and expensive experiment."
According to a 2023 study, acquiring DTE's assets in Ann Arbor could cost between $281 million and $1.1 billion.
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