Citizens Utility Board of Michigan

DTE Energy is the only choice of electricity provider for the vast majority of its 2.2 million customers across Southeast Michigan. So it makes sense that so many residents of the area crowded a conference room in downtown Detroit on June 20 for a public forum held by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) regarding DTE’s integrated resource plan, the utility’s long-term plan for the mix of coal, natural gas, solar, wind, energy efficiency and other resources it will use to produce energy for its customers.

The fate of utility customers in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is approaching a crossroads. Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which supplies a significant amount of U.P. customers’ liquid propane for heating, is facing possible shutdown as the result of a dispute over the viability of the line. Meanwhile, solar power has been taking off in the U.P. at an impressive rate. Battery storage is on its way could be a big cost-saver, particularly for customers of UPPCO, the peninsula’s largest investor-owned utility, who pay some of the highest electricity rates in the nation.