New Report from Citizens Utility Board: Electric Utility Performance – Ranking Michigan Amongst the States (2019)

There’s a new report out from the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, prepared by 5 Lakes Energy LLC, that provides a scorecard measuring the aggregate performance of Michigan’s electric utilities in the areas of reliability, affordability and management of environmental impacts in comparison to the aggregate performance of the other 49 states and the District of…

Guest Blog: Utility-Owned Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Highlighted in DTE Rate Case

By Jamie Scripps, Hunterston Consulting LLC Jamie Scripps is a principal with Hunterston Consulting LLC, where she offers advanced energy policy expertise to clients across the Midwest, with a focus on Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Jamie’s standby rate research has been featured in proceedings throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, and she is a…

5 Lakes Energy Co-Founder Liesl Eichler Clark appointed to lead Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer

Starting January 1, 5 Lakes Energy Co-Founder and Partner Liesl Eichler Clark will serve as the Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the Whitmer Administration. Clark brings to the position deep expertise in environmental, energy, natural resources, corporate sustainability and agriculture policy, and an indomitable passion for combating climate change. Prior…

Michigan energy policy package contains important provisions for combined heat and power (CHP)

This post was originally published by the Great Plains Institute at: http://www.betterenergy.org/MI_CHP After nearly two years of hearings, countless substitute bills, and intense negotiations the Michigan legislature finally approved two pieces of legislation that overhaul and update Michigan’s energy policy. Much has already been written about the larger elements of the legislation – increasing the renewable…

Other hidden costs of Line 5

You wouldn’t site, and you wouldn’t build and construct pipelines underneath the Straits today.” Attorney General Bill Schuette [Begging the question:  If a state-of-the-art, 21st Century pipeline presents an unacceptable risk, why is the continued use of an aging, mid-20th Century pipeline acceptable?] Many compelling reasons exist to terminate the use of Line 5, the…

Energy & Climate Notes 072116

2016 Platforms: “We will enforce the original intent of the Clean Water Act, not it’s distortion by EPA regulations. We will likewise forbid the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide”  Republican Platform 2016 The Republican platform largely denies the existence of climate change, expressly rejects the Paris Climate Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol, and calls for…

Remembering Earth Day and The Paris Agreement

Remembering Earth Day Forty-six years ago, over 20 million people participated in the nation’s first Earth Day. Pioneered by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day was one of the first of what became to be known as environmental teach-ins. Senator Nelson sought to confront the growing list of environmental issues facing the nation and the…