Local Advocates Respond to Consumers Energy Waste Reduction Plans

FLINT, MI. -- Consumers Energy filed its electric and gas energy efficiency (referred to in Michigan as “energy waste reduction”) plans to reduce energy waste in the service territory with the Michigan Public Service Commission on August 2. Through the process mandated by state law, Michigan utilities must file plans to allocate resources that improve energy efficiency and reduce  electricity waste  in their service territory. Consumers Energy is required to deliver customers at least 2% of energy savings annually, following the outcome of their previous Integrated Resource Plan (they proposed an average of 1.7% in their current Integrated Resources Plan). As Michigan’s second largest utility, Consumers serves millions of customers and how it funds and prioritizes energy efficiency spending could have huge impacts on the disproportionate  communities. 

Advocates point out that Michigan has one of the highest energy burden rates in the nation, especially in historically redlined urban areas like Flint and Grand Rapids in Consumers Energy’s service territory. Energy burden is the percentage of a household’s income that goes to paying energy bills, and is used as a metric to measure how burdensome energy costs are on low-income households. Energy burden has been shown to directly impact communities of color and data shows a high  correlation between neighborhoods with energy burden and neighborhoods with a legacy of redlining. In the Flint Metro Area, households in predominantly black neighborhoods have energy burdens nearly twice as high as households in predominantly white neighborhoods.

Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Ecology Center, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), National Housing Trust, along with organizational and community partners plan to closely review the details of Consumers Energy’s efficiency filings and are hopeful that the utility will make good on its stated commitment to strive towards racial equity and justice through implementation of its energy efficiency programs. By proactively investing resources in high energy-burden neighborhoods, Consumers Energy has a responsibility to help families save energy and live in healthier homes.

Mike Berkowitz, Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign Representative in Michigan released the following statement: “Michigan has one of the highest energy burdens in the country and that impact is disproportionately seen in majority BIPOC low-income neighborhoods in Flint and Grand Rapids. There is a vital responsibility for Consumers Energy to equitably distribute resources that lower energy bills and make homes safer and more resilient in a way that prioritizes these neighborhoods which have been disenfranchised by historic racist policies like redlining.”

Laura Goldberg, NRDC’s Midwest Regional Director of Energy Efficiency for All said, “Consumers Energy’s energy efficiency plan needs to ensure it prioritizes robust, deep programs for families living with lower incomes, including residents living in affordable multifamily housing. Some of the highest energy burdens in Michigan are experienced by low-income multifamily households, along with low-income and black households. We plan to hold Consumers Energy accountable to reaching Michigan families most in need of energy efficiency.”

"High energy burden creates significant health disparities, putting families in physical and economic jeopardy, leaving people in a situation of having to choose between heating and cooling their homes, feeding their families, or seeking needed medical treatment," said Alexis Blizman, policy director at the Ecology Center.  "These disparities have grown since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. It is time for Consumers Energy to both recognize these disparities and take aggressive steps toward long term, sustainable solutions. This requires a much larger investment in those communities most impacted by high energy burden."

Annika Brindel, the National Housing Trust’s Midwest Director of Energy Efficiency Policy (EEFA) shared, “The National Housing Trust will be closely reviewing Consumers Energy’s filings to ensure that planned investment levels in affordable multifamily homes are appropriate given the huge potential energy savings. Multifamily rental homes have historically been under-invested in, resulting in far fewer energy efficiency measures per home than in other types of housing. Significant work needs to be done to close this growing gap as well as to ensure that investments promote racial equity.”