LANSING–-One week before DTE customers were subjected to a multi-day power outage last month, the utility company asked the state’s Public Service Commission to greenlight an 18 percent rate increase despite record profits the previous year. Last August, billion-dollar automaker Ford Motor Company laid off thousands of Michigan employees just two months after standing on stage at the Mackinac Conference with the Governor and legislative leaders to tout its expansion plans – which were made possible by a generous $100 million state tax incentive package. What these two situations have in common, said Fund MI Future Executive Director MoReno Taylor II, is that they represent wealthy corporations fleecing the people of Michigan.
“Both Ford and DTE are raking in profits,” Taylor added. “Why should the hard-working people of Michigan be on the hook for these companies’ tax breaks and rate increases? I can’t imagine better examples to underscore why our state’s elected leaders need to modernize our tax structure to make sure corporations and the wealthy pay what they owe.”
Taylor said Michigan residents can urge members of the House Energy Committee to hold DTE accountable and attend the committee’s power outage hearing on March 15, where DTE leaders and Dann Scripps, chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), are expected to testify. Michigan residents can also share how they have been impacted by power outages at an event hosted by FMF coalition partner Detroit Action from 4-6 p.m. on Monday, March 13 at DABO, 12048 Grand River Ave. in Detroit.
Ford hit the jackpot again in February when the Legislature blew a $1.7 billion hole in the budget to provide a tax giveaway in exchange for 2,500 future jobs – jobs that won’t even pay the median salary for Calhoun County, where the expansion project will be located. The Governor signed the budget this week, which includes Ford’s multimillion-dollar tax abatement.
“Communities that have lots of public amenities – such as efficient public transit, roads that aren’t littered with potholes, clean air and water, and excellent schools – are the kinds of places companies want to be in,” said Kermit Williams, Co-Executive Director of FMF partner organization Oakland Forward. “We can’t achieve the excellent quality of life that draws companies and talent to Michigan if we’re using state budget funding to invest in corporate tax breaks instead of boosting working families.”
Meanwhile, after two storms caused widespread power outages across its service area – which required customers to throw out thousands of dollars in spoiled food, rent hotel rooms, and pay for repairs caused by the outage – DTE offered its customers a paltry $35 credit to mitigate the damages it caused. Adding salt to the wound is the fact that experts attributed the service outage not only to bad weather, but to DTE chronically underfunding its infrastructure. Communities of color and low-income rural communities tend to have the most outdated infrastructure served by DTE.
The MPSC will also hold two in-person town halls in areas hard hit by the ice storm on March 20: from noon to 2:30 p.m. at American 1 Credit Union Event Center, 128 W. Ganson St. in Jackson, and from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Fordson High School’s auditorium, 13800 Ford Road in Dearborn. The MPSC also will hold a virtual town hall meeting, livestreamed over Microsoft Teams at the event’s webpage, on March 21 from 6-8 p.m.
“Both corporations have been around long enough to understand how the game is played and regularly donate to elected officials on both sides of the aisle, which could be why they’ve managed to skirt accountability,” said Detroit Action Political Director Scott Holiday. He noted that DTE funded a dark money entity that ran the ballot initiative to repeal Governor Whitmer’s emergency order powers so they could resume power shut offs during the pandemic. DTE is also reportedly one of the most aggressive utility companies in the country when it comes to
cutting off its customers’ power after a missed bill payment or two. Now, there’s speculation that DTE is underreporting power outages on its online outage map.
“It’s time for the public and local and state elected officials to stand up to corporate greed and ask tough questions of DTE executives and its regulator, the Michigan Public Service Commission,” Holiday said.
Fund MI Future is a joint effort of community organizations, unions of working people, and policy experts. FMF is working to create shared prosperity for all Michiganders by fully and fairly funding our public services like schools, roads, and clean water.
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