Hearings to Open on Electricity Deregulation

Hearings open this week at the state Capitol on a proposal to lift Michigan's cap on electricity companies competing for customers. A 2008 law says no more than 10 percent of the state's electricity can be directly provided to consumers by an alternative to a region's major utility.  

Republican state Representative Mike Shirkey sponsored the proposal. He says Michigan's limits on utility competition hurt consumers and stifle economic growth. Shirkey appeared over the weekend on the Michigan Public Television show "Off The Record."

"Let's allow 10 percent of customers to have choice and everybody else not to have choice. I have not met anybody yet, even within the utilities, that can defend the logic of that."  "Rolling blackouts. Soaring electric bills…"

The state's legacy utilities have started an ad campaign to oppose Shirkey's legislation. They say deregulation in other states has caused higher rates as well as brownouts and blackouts.

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