DTE-backed group loses appeal to exclude public power proposal from Ann Arbor ballot
Ann Arbor for Public Power proposal to remain on the ballot in November, court rules
Jenny Sherman is a digital news producer for ClickOnDetroit
ANN ARBOR – A Michigan appeals court dismissed a DTE-backed group’s lawsuit this week which sought to keep an Ann Arbor public power proposal off the General Election ballot in November.
The lawsuit, filed last month by the Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition (A2REC), names both the city of Ann Arbor and its clerk — Jacqueline Beaudry — alleging that they violated state law by accepting petition signatures in batches, rather than all at once.
In the majority opinion filed Thursday in Michigan’s Fourth District appellate court, Judges Brock A. Swartzle and Anica Letica wrote that state law doesn’t specify whether a petition can be filed in that manner, and “does not expressly direct a clerk to reject [a petition] for filing and canvassing any supplemental signatures.”
According to Ann Arbor for Public Power (A2P2), the nonprofit group that filed the petition, the proposed amendment would create a new municipal electric utility and develop a process to select governing board members in 2028. — marking “the first step towards breaking DTE’s monopoly on electricity distribution.”
“We hope DTE is done wasting ratepayer money to try to keep people from voting this November,” said A2P2 Executive Director Brian Geiringer in response to Thursday’s ruling. “Ann Arborites, with their petition signatures, earned the right to choose between DTE and public power.”
If the proposal passes in November, the city must undergo a feasibility study to help determine the projected cost of maintaining a public utility, which would operate as a department of city government.
A2REC — which received $1.8 million from DTE Energy to support the group’s campaign against the ballot measure — claims an independent analysis into the project found that it would cost the city around $1 billion to take over the municipal grid, a cost the group alleges would be passed on to city residents.
In response to this week’s ruling, A2REC shared a statement with Local 4 saying that while they disagree with the majority opinion, they respect the court’s decision.
“The facts about this proposal have not changed,” the statement continued. “It asks voters to authorize the pursuit of a city takeover of the electric grid — an estimated $1 billion in new debt, more than three times what Ann Arbor spends on police, fire, parks, and roads combined — overseen by a nine-member board where not a single seat requires utility or engineering experience. Between now and Election Day, we will make that case to every voter in Ann Arbor, and we are confident that when voters see the full price tag, they will reject it.”
In its formal response to A2REC’s third-party analysis, A2P2 called the $1 billion projection “wildly inflated,” adding that its findings were based on “demonstrably false assumptions.”
“We anticipated a massive disinformation campaign this fall against our ballot proposal,” said A2P2 President Sean Higgins. “But we honestly didn’t expect DTE and A2REC to challenge the very right of the people to make that choice. We’re glad that the courts saw through this ploy.”
More information about the ballot proposal can be found at annarborpublicpower.org.
Link:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2026/09/04/dte-backed-group-loses-appeal-to-exclude-public-power-proposal-from-ann-arbor-ballot/