Ann Arbor is not going forward with a study to find an objective view on how much ending its relationship with DTE Energy to pursue a 100% green and publicly owned utility would actually cost.
City Council was one member short of a full bench when a determined group of pro-Ann Arbor for Public Power supporters wrapped up a pre-council rally in between City Hall and Huron Street, on the evening of March 3. All but two of the speakers who maxed out the 45 minute public comment section and spoke on the municipalization study, favored it. Folding chairs had to be brought for the overflow, and yet some people were still left standing. And yet the vote was a five to five tie. Six votes are needed to pass anything, meaning that the city won’t be going through with the study.
“I am so pleased to see this room so full of thoughtful, committed, passionate activists. I am grateful for your work, but I will be voting no on this item tonight. I have not personally formed a judgement for or against municipalization, and I share your belief that if I and other residents are to vote up or down on municipalization we need more information. I also believe that a phase 2 study would offer important information to thoughtfully consider that vote,” Councilor Lisa Dish (Democrat – Ward 1) explained from the dais. “But municipalization is a long road and in the current political climate, to initiate an investment of this size to [start] that journey puts at risk critical work that the City is already doing, right now, on the ground, to decrease Ann Arbor’s carbon emissions and reduce energy costs for Ann Arborites who can least afford to pay too much for power.”
Both sides of the vote
Ann Arbor for Public Power, or A2P2, is a grassroots organization leading the charge for a city owned utility. It is focused on environmental sustainability, social justice and democratic control of Ann Arbor’s power through the severing of ties with the local, for profit utility monopoly, and establishing a city owned and operated power company. DTE Energy is against the proposal, citing their economies of scale, and the costs of years of litigation that would result if the city went for it.
The $1,728,000 study that was voted down, Monday, would have been conducted by NewGen, a Texas-based utility advisory consultancy, to provide an objective look at what municipalization would cost. In response to Current’s interview request, NewGen referred back to the City.
RELATED: Ann Arbor City Council Delays Municipalization Study
“I’m sure everyone is in agreement that that was disappointing. I personally believe that that was a foolish decision. I think that a lot of us here, feel that this moment is one in which we need to take bold action in light of the Trump Administration. I can’t help but feel that this is a capitulation, self-defeating in the face of fear. This is not the way that we are going to win the future that we deserve,” Brian Geiringer, executive director of A2P2, said in an impromptu speech to disappointed supporters in the elevator lobby right after the vote tied. “Until a few months ago we already planned to be on a path where we would put our own ballot initiative on the November 26 ballot. I hope that you join us in making a decision on whether to do that, and hope that we decide to do that. We can put our own initiative on there … and it will be a big fight. But the power in the room tonight shows that we are able to do that.”
DTE Energy has commissioned its own study by Charles River Associates. They have also denied that that study and its $2 billion price tag is intended as a scare tactic filled with exponent assumption and skewed numbers to deliberately mislead voters as A2P2 claims it is. DTE Energy and Charles River Associates have both denied that they are doing this.
DTE Energy declined to comment on the study vote the morning before the meeting. After the vote happened, DTE Energy spokesperson Ryan Lowry emailed the following statement to Current at 9:25 p.m.: “DTE Energy is already committed to delivering a reliable, affordable and clean energy future for Ann Arbor. We are investing $250 million in infrastructure improvements in the city over the next five years, dramatically improving reliability. We’re also working to provide 60% of Ann Arbor’s electricity from DTE’s Michigan-made wind parks and solar farms by 2030, helping Ann Arbor to meet its clean energy goals. While we continue to invest to deliver improved reliable power and cleaner energy for our customers across the state, we remain focused on customer affordability, keeping energy bills below the national average.”
National impact
There was an initial study on municipalization much earlier. But it is generally agreed, even by the councilors who voted no, that more information is needed to make an informed decision.
“I’m talking about the work of the Office of Sustainability and Innovation in the Bryant neighborhood, that is [having] measurable results lowering energy bills for our most vulnerable residents by improving energy efficiency in their households at $200,000 annually. The source for that? Federal government funds with a local match. The uncertainty: we don’t know if we will lose those funds. Certainty? There will not be any more of them,” Dish went on.
She also called out the Trump Administration for violating laws in their quest to cut spending in the name of balancing the budget, including targeting programs like Avalon Housing, who uses a million dollar a year to house 250 low income people across Washtenaw County with similar funding sources.
She linked not doing this study now to ensure core social justice programs remain functioning to similar decisions made by Council during the Coronavirus pandemic. “For me tonight, in this new terrifying uncertainty, a phase two study, looks like a valued project that can be postponed. I cannot, with good conscience, having gone through the past weeks, spend $1.7 million to go forward with this study.”
Dish’s speech was typical of the councilors who voted no. The others Councilors voting no were Cynthia Harrison (Democrat – Ward 1), Ayesha Ghazi Edwin (Democrat – Ward 3), Dharma Akmon (Democrat – Ward 4), and Jenn Conell (Democrat – Ward 5).
“I also want us to be thinking about whether somebody like Council Member Akmon, who is up in 2026, should be in that seat,” Geiringer also said to his supporters. “I think the fight goes on, and becomes clarified tonight. I hope to see you all in different organ …. There is a lot to do, and the work starts today…”
Erica Briggs (Democrat – Ward 5) was the absent councilor. When contacted by email, Briggs told Current she would have voted no on the resolution, saying her decision is supported by a majority of her interactions with constituents.
Briggs says in her March 3 newsletter she couldn’t make the March 3 meeting because is out of town for work. She wrote a more lengthy explanation of her political position in her February 17 newsletter:
Next steps
So what now? Mayor Chris Taylor told Current via email that he is not sure what the next steps for municipalization are, but said when asked if this is likely to come back up that he thought it would. “The CM’s [council members] who voted ‘no’ are persons of integrity.”
A2P2 took the opposite lesson from what is happening nationally.
“At a time of unprecedented federal attacks on our democratic institutions, and a complete abandonment of its climate commitments, it’s extremely disappointing to see Ann Arbor further retreat from climate action with its vote tonight,” said A2P2 President Greg Wooding said in a press release sent slightly after midnight. “The money is there, it’s already been allocated, voting down this resolution tonight is hard to see as anything but submission to these attacks coming from the federal government.”
They reiterated wanting to make their cause a ballot initiative. “For months, we have been considering running a ballot initiative in 2026, and this vote makes it clear that that needs to happen,” Geiringer said in the same press release. “This fight is more necessary under a Trump administration, not less; if City Council is not willing to take on that fight, we believe the people of Ann Arbor are.”
“I’ll leave the politics of this to another day. With the intentional chaos and cuts coming from the President and his collaborators, I can understand the other CM’s hesitation to commit these resources now,” Taylor, a Democrat, added. When asked about how much danger federal cuts present to the SEU ad other A2ZERO changes that the no-voting councilors are preoccupied with defending, Taylor said: “We have a dedicated climate action funding source in the CCM, an amazing staff, and committed residents — progress will be slowed by federal retrenchment, but not halted.”
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
