Granholm Started It. Whitmer Finished It. Michigan Pays the Bill.

Michigan’s energy and cost crisis did not happen overnight. It started under Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm and was finished under Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. One shut down competition. The other piled mandates and taxes on top of it. Families and businesses across Michigan are now paying from every direction.

In 2000, Michigan had full electricity choice. Customers could shop for power, competition kept prices down, and Michigan ranked among the lowest electricity costs in the Midwest. That system was signed into law by Republican Governor John Engler.

That changed under Granholm. Her administration supported ending electric choice, arguing utilities needed long-term planning certainty. In 2008, Democrats passed Public Act 286, capping alternative suppliers at 10 percent. Once the cap filled, customers were locked into monopoly utilities with no way out.

From there, costs climbed steadily. With competition gone, utilities regained control over generation, pricing, and planning. Rate increases became routine. Customers had nowhere else to go. Michigan shifted from a market that forced efficiency to one that guaranteed profits.

Whitmer took that broken system and made it far more expensive. Her administration accelerated energy mandates, shut down coal plants early, expanded renewable projects, and pushed major transmission builds. Every dollar of that spending flows directly to ratepayers through increases approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission.

At the same time, Whitmer added pressure outside the electric bill. Marijuana taxes expanded. New electric vehicle fees were imposed to replace gas tax revenue. Fuel taxes continued. Now, after failing to wean the state off expired COVID-era federal money, her latest budget proposes new taxes instead of spending cuts.

Michigan residents are now paying higher electric bills, higher fuel costs, higher vehicle fees, and higher taxes at the same time.

And there is still no real choice. Most people are forced to buy electricity from either Consumers Energy or DTE Energy, while being told these increases are unavoidable.

Granholm shut down competition. Whitmer layered mandates and taxes on top of it. Michigan went from low-cost electricity to some of the highest rates in the Midwest, and families are now paying the price on every bill they open.

If competition once kept prices low, and monopoly control plus higher taxes keep driving them up, why is Michigan still staying on this path instead of fixing it?

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