MY PLAN FOR HOLDING DTE ACCOUNTABLE TO US​

• Facts and Figures about DTE and the state of our power grid:

​       As one of your elected officials on your Westland City Council I have worked to hold DTE to account when it comes                   to the constant power outages faced by residents here in Westland. I have done so by asking for public meetings

       with DTE Representatives, speaking out publicly at City Council meetings, and advocated for communities to join

       together to stand up to the DTE monopoly. Here in the State of Michigan we rank 46th in the country in-terms of the

       reliability of our power grid. We are also 34th in the country in-terms of the costs and money we pay to have power.

       That means our power grid is both expensive and unreliable. We have to demand better from DTE.

 

       We must demand that DTE do more to make our electric grid more reliable and secure so that the power doesn't go

       out every time it storms or we have a little bit of wind. We must ensure that DTE is making more upgrades to our

       power grid and infrastructure by trimming more trees each year, changing out transformers before they blow, and

       burying power lines when possible.

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       It’s also worth looking into DTE’s financial statements as a corporate entity. DTE Energy’s gross profit for the twelve                   months ending June 30, 2022 was $5.923B, a 11.69% increase year-over-year. DTE Energy annual gross profit for 

       2021 was $5.756B, a 3.08% increase from 2020. DTE Energy annual gross profit for 2020 was $5.584B, a 4.67% increase   

       from 2019.

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       There is something else that years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 have in common at DTE besides their net profit

       increases year over year. Each of those years DTE lobbied the Michigan Public Service Commission, the unit of

       government that regulates our public utilities, for electrical rate increases. That means DTE was trying to get more

       money out of consumers like us. According to a publication in the Detroit Free Press by Free Press Journalist

       Nusharat Rhaman, with numbers obtained from DTE and the State of Michigan’s own reports, DTE requested an

       8.8% rate increase in 2022. That equates to approximately $388 million in additional revenue . Rhaman reports that

       this would amount to about $10 more a month for residential customers. Since 2010, Rhaman’s reporting showed

       that the Michigan Public Service Commission had approved six other rate increases. The most recent was in 2020,

       when the commission approved a DTE rate increase of 4.7%, or $3.93 a month. DTE and its lobbyists get the State of

       Michigan to give them frequent rate increases on the backs of consumers like all of us.​

 

       According to Salary.com, Jerry Norcia, the Chief Executive of DTE, made approximately $11 million in total

       compensation in 2020 and $10,054,678 in 2021. Mr. Norcia received an 11% compensation increase in 2020 from

       2019, during the pandemic. As a result of his compensation increase, when you factor in total compensation, he

       now makes 67 times the pay of his average worker at DTE. Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer David

       Meador made $3,729,535 in total compensation. President and COO Trevor Lauer made $2,548,069. Senior Vice

       President and Chief Financial Officer $2,546,164. President and Chief Operating Office Mark Steiers made

       $2,285,565 in total compensation.

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       Meanwhile, DTE has only recently ramped up investments its tree trimming program after much public outcry and

       scrutiny. Above ground power lines and trees taking out wires and entire poles are a significant contributor to the

       constant power outrageous according to several studies. Additionally, lack of investments in the overall power

       grid and infrastructure contribute to these constant outages and delays in service. Consumers across Westland and

       Metro Detroit have experienced constant outages throughout 2021 and have lost time and money as a result. DTE’s

       customers, residents and small businesses alike, sit for days without power watching their food go to waste, vital life

       saving medicines go bad, and experiencing the inconvenience of living without power. We’re told by DTE that we

       need to be patient and that they are out there doing the best they possibly can. And just what is DTE doing response

       to all of this inconvenience and this patience we’re all supposed to have, they are offering us another lousy $25 bill

       credit, if you qualify for it.

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       Upon discussing DTE’s “generous” offer of a $25 credit, I think there are some pertinent follow up questions that

       need to be asked. Did you lose only $25 worth of food in your fridge when the power went out? If you lost life-saving

       prescriptions that required refrigeration, did those only cost you $25? If you were forced to stay at a hotel,

       one-two-three-four nights, was your bill only $25? If you experienced damage to your home as a result of the power

       being out, was that damage only $25?

 

       If your power is out, don't blame the Utility Workers and hard working union members either. The hard working and

       dedicated Utility Workers from the Michigan State Utility Workers Council are doing all they can with the resources

       they are given from DTE to keep our power on and restore it when it goes out. This isn't there fault, this is the fault

       of the corporate entities controlling our power grid here in Michigan.

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       If you're angry at both DTE and Consumers Energy you should be. If you're looking for a quick solution to the

       constant power outrageous and annual price rate increases on our backs from DTE there isn't one. Over the long

       term, what needs to happen is for the people’s representatives, your government, at the state and local levels, being

       tougher on DTE. Taking a stand to demand more tree trimming, burying of power lines, and upgrades to our power

       grid. public control, no not privatization, over the utility companies.

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• Work with elected leaders in Lansing on laws requiring larger bill credits for power outages:

       We need to be leaning on and working with our elected leaders in Lansing, State Representatives, State Senators,

       and the Governor to draft a law requiring DTE to offer larger bill credits when residential and business customers

       experience a long lasting power outage. Industry research that I have done shows that the best course of action

       would be to offer a $2 per hour credit for every single hour you are out of power.

       By offering a larger credit to customers people and business would be not be put under as much financial burden 

       when they have to throw away food and medicine, stay at a hotel, or experience a loss of business. By making the

       credit steeper on DTE it also incentivizes them to get our power grid back up and running quicker, so that people

       and businesses aren't left for days and entire weeks without power. 

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• Ensure the Michigan Public Service Commission is making DTE invest in and strengthen our power grid: 

       The other important component to holding DTE accountable to us is working with the appointed Michigan Public 

       Service Commission. The Michigan Public Service Commission is a board of people appointed by the Governor and

       then are in charge of regulating DTE. They are the body that decides what regulations to impose on DTE and they

       also decide if and by how much DTE and Consumers Energy get to increase out electric rates.

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       We as elected leaders, at every level of government, need to work with the membership of the Michigan Public

       Service Commission to ensure that they are adequately regulating DTE. By properly regulating I mean ensuring that

       DTE is putting more money into upgrading and strengthening our power grid than they are giving dividends to

       stockholders on Wall Street. They need to make sure DTE is trimming more trees, changing out transformers before

       they blow, making improvements to substations,, and burying more power lines across Metro Detroit.

 

• Banning bill credit rate reclamation: 

       Rate reclamation would require action from the Michigan State Legislature to pass. With rate reclamation it would state         that utilities like DTE would not be allowed to reclaim money paid to customers via outage credits in the form of higher           rates or hidden fees. Meaning, banning rate reclamation would mean DTE can’t offer you a lousy $35 bill credit and

       then try on the back end to reclaim the money by hitting you with fees or increasing your electric/gas utility rates.

 

• Power outage disclosure: ​

       This solution would again require action by the Michigan State Legislature. With outage disclosure legislation passed by         the Michigan State Legislature DTE and other utilities would be forced to disclose the exact number of customers       

       affected by outages and the duration of the outage. They would also have to provide detailed outage data to the 

       Michigan Public Service Commission after each outage so that the MPSC can better regulate DTE and other utilities in

       the future.

 

• Change the Michigan Foote Act Law of 1905: 

       We need to reform the 1905 State of Michigan law known as the Foote Act. The Foote Act of 1905 made any electric 

       utility franchise that had been granted by a local government permanent.  The Foote Act essentially made it impossible

       for a municipality like Westland to switch or add companies that provide electric service. We need to reform this law in

       order to make it easier for local communities like ours to implement public-power initiatives and public power co-ops.
 

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• Support an initiative for public control of our electric utilities and power grid: 

       Our electrical and power grid should be controlled by the people of Metro Detroit and not a fore-profit, corporate entity.

       When we allow private, for-profit companies like DTE and Consumers Energy to control our grid like they do we aren't

       giving ourselves the best option for the most reliable service. That's because instead of being beholden to their

       customers, DTE cares more about their Wall Street Shareholders. As a for profit, private company DTE invests

       hundreds-of-millions of dollars each year into stock dividends for it's corporate shareholders, instead of putting that 

       money back into our grid.

       What we need instead is a publicly-owned electrical and power utility service. Just as our water service is owned by the

       Great Lakes Water Authority, it is time to have a publicly-owned power company. Studies show that public utilities are

       often more reliable, have fewer power outages, and have a quicker turn around time to get power restored when it does

       go out. That is because publicly-owned power utilities are behold to the people and their customers, not Wall Street

       Shareholders.​ Communities and counties across Southeast Michigan should come together to begin to earnestly

       explore the idea of setting up a publicly-owned power utility. This would be done ultimately through a vote of the people

       via a ballot initiative. It's time that we the people control our power supply!