I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
A state-regulated energy monopoly is the best approach for keeping down electricity costs, Rep. Frank Accavitti Jr. (D-Oakland Co.), chair of the House Energy and Technology Committee, told Michigan Messenger Wednesday. He spoke during a break in discussion of a bill to eliminate the state’s electricity consumer choice provisions.
It`s better to be tied to a local monopoly with adequate generating capacity, Accavitti said, than to be dependent on other states for power.
“This bill is going to pass,” he said.
The state’s largest power companies, Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison, support the measure (HB5524). They say that Michigan needs more base load power plants and that before they can invest in building them, they need to be sure about the customer base.
Critics of the bill such as the Customer Choice Coalition say that monopolies drive up rates and will leave consumers no choice as to whether they want to finance new power plants.
The Customer Choice Coalition which includes businesses such as Spartan stores, Alticor and other groups such as the Michigan League for Human Services, the AARP, and the Michigan Catholic Conference, is airing radio ads across the state urging people to become active on the issue.
“Competition and choice has worked well ,” said David Waymire, spokesman for the Customer Choice Coalition, “Our rates have increased less than in other states.”
“Industrial rates in Wisconsin [where there is no law mandating consumer choice] have gone up by 55 percent since 2000,” Waymire said, “Our commercial rates have gone up by 19 percent and residential rates by 20 percent.”
Waymire said that if the measure becomes law rate hikes that the utilities have in front of the public service commission will automatically go into effect.
“It reminds us of the service tax,” he said, “a lot of work done in dead of night, and then they have to go back and reverse it.”
Last month Attorney General Mike Cox objected to the bill saying that it would re-monopolize the state electricity system and drive up rates.
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