Opinion | Want a lower winter electric bill? Support clean energy

After a mild winter last year and an unusually warm fall, it seemed Michiganders were destined for another “winter that wasn’t.” After the past couple of weeks, though, we know that Michigan’s winter is here in full force. In addition to the snow days and increase in potholes that a strong Michigan winter brings, Michiganders are, once again, facing an increase in their electricity bills.

While energy prices are rising around the country, utility rates are rising higher in Michigan than elsewhere and customers face more frequent and longer shut-offs. Multiple reasons account for this, but according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, a few main factors are “the expense of maintaining grids, higher costs of natural gas, and colder weather forecasts.” 

The good news is that we have the solutions right now to create more resilient grids, keep costs low and consistent and keep the lights on through severe storms. We can do that through locally owned, clean energy grids.

The resilience of clean energy grids, and therefore lower maintenance cost, can be attributed to the fact that solar and wind farms are smaller and are locally controlled. Think about it. If you have one large coal or gas plant to serve 500,000 customers versus many solar and wind farms, you have more distribution infrastructure, like power lines, that can break down over time or be damaged during a severe weather event, which are becoming more frequent. I know many DTE customers are frustrated with the utility’s failure to trim trees and update its grid, leading to some of the highest power outages rates in the nation. 

It’s not just existing distribution systems that are more vulnerable — energy generation plants are, as well. For example, let’s say you have one gas powered plant serving a million customers. If that one plant has problems, all those customers are impacted. I lived in Lansing in 2019 during a polar vortex and remember when Consumers Energy had a fire at a gas plant and had to ask all 1.8 million of its customers to lower their thermostats during the coldest day of the year. When you compare that to clean energy, there is robust evidence that renewable energy can maintain grid resiliency better than fossil fuels. 

Grid reliability is crucial to prepare for Michigan’s future, but the transition to clean energy makes even more sense when you consider that from construction to decommissioning, utility-scale wind and solar energy are the cheapest forms of energy we have, even without subsidies. If we continue to invest in and lead in this transition that has already been an economic boon for many Michigan communities, we can keep energy costs for customers low and consistent. And yes, solar panels work when it snows, and they are getting cheaper and more advanced! 

Michigan has been leading in the clean energy transition, and if we want to have lower electricity rates for all Michiganders, we need to continue leading. There are a few ways we can do so, even with an incoming administration that is self-proclaimed pro-fossil fuels. First, we need to remove barriers to homeowners installing their own solar or wind, we need to pass Senate Bill 152-3. It failed to make it to the floor this year for a vote but can be passed early next year, which is crucial as it allows community solar to become accessible to all Michiganders. We need to pass that bill! 

Next, we need to look at reducing our reliance on investor-owned utilities and prioritize a shift to publicly owned utilities or locally controlled cooperatives. Ann Arbor is the latest example of a city voting to ditch their investor-owned utility and create their own clean energy utility. Michigan also has a history of electric cooperatives providing electricity to rural Michigan residents for decades! We can expand on this model all around the state as cooperatives are beholden to their members, not their investors, leading to cheaper prices and more reliability. 

Lastly, we need you to be an advocate for local, clean energy in your village, town or city. Local offices are often where clean energy projects get approved or denied, and if we can elect informed clean-energy advocates around the state, we can help ensure this transition continues. If you are interested in running for local office and want help, you can sign up for free online training at runforclimate.org. 

We have the clean energy technology. The economics point to an inevitable transition to local, clean energy. We now need Michiganders from all corners of the state to be advocates in their own communities for the cheapest and most reliable form of energy we have. If we do that, we can continue to transition our grid to be ready for our future and facilitate prosperity for generations to come.