Environmental and Community Justice Leaders Come Together to Highlight Energy Burden Concerns in Detroit with Billboards Around City

Detroit, MI - On Monday, Jan 31st, Detroit activists, environmental advocates, and energy experts hosted a virtual press event highlighting energy burden and racial disparity concerns in Detroit. As part of an ongoing campaign to educate the public, connect people with resources, and call attention to what energy burden looks like in Detroit, several billboards have been placed around the city. While these billboards will soon be coming down, work around this issue will continue; Earlier this month, a settlement agreement was made between DTE and advocates which will result in more resources available for low-income households and high-need communities.

View Press Event Recording

Sharonda Williams-Tack, the Associate Director of the Sierra Club’s Energy Justice Campaign, Healthy Communities, said "Detroit has one of the highest energy burdens in the country above the national average of 25%.  Some Detroiters have an energy burden of at least 30% and 6% is considered unaffordable.  The DTE settlement agreement will help ensure resources are equitably distributed in a way that prioritizes these neighborhoods that have been historically disenfranchised, lowering energy bills while making homes safer and more resilient.”

Advocates point out that, while the settlement with DTE is a positive step, more must be done to address the serious concerns with energy costs for low-income households and predominantly black neighborhoods that have been historically redlined.

"Health and safely issues especially in Black & Brown homes are a major issue. The impacts of red-lining and decades of disinvestment in Black and Brown neighborhoods mean that families have not had opportunities to build up equity in their homes.” said Alexis Blizman, J.D. Legislative & Policy Director, Ecology Center, “Combined with income constraints, these families do not have access to the funds or credit needed to make major home repairs.Issues such as leaky roofs, no or faulty ductwork, cracked windows, mold infiltration, as well as lead & asbestos, prevent basic energy saving measures from being installed. The settlement with DTE is a good start, but a lot more money is needed to address health and safety issues in homes.”

“In our experience, we’ve noticed that given all the resources that are available [through DTE] the reality is that it is not enough. We are proud of the decarbonization and electrification work we are doing with DTE but there needs to be more focus on building out Health & Safety programs and funding opportunities to get basic needs support in homes.” said Bryan Lewis, Executive Director, Ecoworks, “This is an urgent issue, not something we can debate on. We have people who do not have heat and, given the cold weather, now have no water because their pipes have frozen. Energy security issues are being compounded by these additional problems and lead to more financial insecurity and more problems in the home and community.”

Michelle Jones, Energy Democracy Program Coordinator, Soulardarity, said “The pre-pay program offered by DTE does NOT address the issue of high rates in BIPOC and lower-income communities that actually use less energy than their more affluent neighbors. This proposal brings several questions to the forefront; What happens if a customer cannot make a payment? Will services be immediately cut off? Will those customers be eligible for assistance programs? Will their rates increase? Will their balance EVER be reduced? With MI having the 10th highest energy rates in the nation and ranking 4th in reliability, a pre-pay program is not the solution. Communities NEED to have the ability to provide clean, sustainable, and RELIABLE energy that will create jobs and also build community wealth.”

"The Attorney General’s office has been supportive toward fighting high energy costs for low-income and predominately Black communities." Michael Moody, Special Litigation Division, Michigan Department of Attorney General said “Fighting for energy justice is important to help ease the energy burden that is disproportionately felt by many in Detroit. For example, the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission should condition certificates for pipeline projects to mitigate harm to environmental justice communities or deny certificates when mitigation is insufficient.  In addition, we need more energy efficiency programs, such as on-bill financing, to break this cycle of very high energy rates which is a major burden to homeowners.”