DTE Energy is the largest utility in Michigan and serves the city of Detroit, which has a poverty rate nearly three times higher than the national average. In response to input from our organizers working in the Detroit area and the NAACP's "Lights Out in the Cold" report, which highlighted the serious and sometimes tragic impact of utility shut-offs in low-income communities, ELP partnered with the Club's Healthy Communities campaign to address this issue through advocacy at the Michigan Public Service Commission. ELP began advocating in 2018 that DTE expand its energy efficiency offerings to low-income customers and target those programs to customers that were behind on bill payments and therefore at risk of electricity shut-offs.
Building off of our participation on this issue in several prior dockets, ELP intervened last year in the Public Service Commission proceeding on DTE's energy efficiency plan for 2020-21. With the help of outside counsel from Earthjustice, as well as an expert on energy affordability, Sierra Club's team reached a strong settlement with DTE. DTE will expand the budget of its low income program by $10 million dollars and will implement an initiative, carefully designed with the Club's input through the settlement process, that will target payment troubled customers with the goal of lowering their energy burden. The settlement includes robust reporting and enforceability provisions, which will enable Sierra Club and the company to learn more about what works, and design effective future programs. Senior Attorneys Elena Saxonhouse and Andrea Issod have been leading this work for ELP. Sharonda Williams-Tack, the Club's Associate Director of Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships, has championed this work within the Club and worked closely to help develop the settlement terms and ensure they were reflective of community interests. Sharonda and the ELP team plan to help carry the success in Michigan to other states.