Press Releases

Press Release: CUB Releases Guide for Best Practices To Introduce EVs for Ratepayers

Posted by · December 20, 2021 2:11 PM

Electric vehicles (EVs) seem poised to revolutionize both transportation and electric power, but how widely will their benefits be shared across society? Although automakers have been rolling out more affordable models, EVs have tended to be luxury items that are out of reach of most consumers. In addition, the costs of transitioning the grid and road infrastructure to EVs may fall hardest on these same customers who can least afford EVs.

To help ensure that policies to manage the transition toward EVs are fair and consumer-friendly, the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan has released a report, The ABCs of Michigan EVs: A Policy Guide To Electrify Michigan. The report is one of a series being produced by the other Citizens Utility Boards in the Midwest, representing Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio.

Press Release: New Report Finds That Michigan Is One of the Worst States for Power Outages, Energy Affordability and More

Posted by · December 13, 2021 10:26 AM

Shortly after hundreds of thousands of Michigan utility customers lost power on Dec. 11 in an event that is the latest sign of our deteriorating electric grid, the residential ratepayer advocacy group the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) of Michigan is releasing the 2021 edition of its Utility Performance Report, a scorecard that compares Michigan utilities to peers nationwide. The report finds that Michigan is for the most part doing poorly on critical metrics like electric reliability and the level of environmental impacts from the energy sector. Despite these shortcomings, however, Michigan residents pay some of the highest rates in the country.

“Unreliable and expensive energy is a big problem that makes life more difficult for Michiganders, and also harms our state’s economy,” CUB of Michigan President-Elect Keith Cooley said. “This report lays out the scope of the problem. Our regulators and representatives should take notice and make reforms.”