Ann Arbor voters will decide this November whether to create a new municipal electric utility, paving the way for the replacement of DTE Energy as the city’s electricity provider.
The nonprofit group Ann Arbor for Public Power led the initiative, gathering more than 5,000 signatures on a petition to amend the city charter. Ann Arbor city clerk Jacqueline Beaudry confirmed via email Thursday that the petition had been certified and will appear on the November 3 midterm election ballot.
Municipal utilities are owned and operated by local authorities and tend to have lower rates and better reliability scores and are structurally more accountable to customers, according to the American Public Power Association.
What could a public power transition look like?
Most communities in Michigan get their electricity from investor-owned utilities like DTE and Consumers Energy. They are privately-owned but their rates are regulated by the Michigan Public Service Commission…