Damoose: More questions than answers about what this will mean for Michiganders
LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, issued the following statement after the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment resumed hearings on a series of initiatives to radically overhaul the state’s energy policy:
“I’m concerned, not only about what these bills will mean for families who are struggling to pay for the rising costs of energy as it is, but what it will mean for the countless families in my district and across Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula who rely on propane to heat their homes.
“In recent years, there has been enough difficulty with distributing propane to those who need it, and these overreaching reforms, mixed with the war on Line 5 and further delaying the Great Lakes tunnel, causes great concern for families in Northern Michigan and the U.P.
“There are still too many questions surrounding feasibility, implementation and most importantly, costs. We’ve seen how this plays out before. Government mandates almost always result in higher costs, and those higher costs usually get passed onto the consumer.
“This plan seeks to abandon our existing grid and the massive investments that have already gone into it, and reinvent the wheel using resources that have yet to prove themselves on a statewide scale here in Michigan. Instead of using this time and money to consider how we can strengthen the reliability of our existing grid or streamline systems to make energy more affordable, we’re going back to the starting line.
“This isn’t the way forward, and I strongly encourage reconsideration of these disastrous, heavy-handed mandates.”