Stick It to DTE This November!
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Hello community!
We hope you all are staying safe and healthy. This month’s newsletter is particularly Michigan-heavy with two important voting topics coming up this November, as well as some significant nuclear history. Read on to learn more about the history of nuclear disasters in the US as well as how to support community-controlled energy this November!
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Michigan: Vote to Take Money Out of Politics
This November!
Thanks to the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) for making it possible for Michigan voters to decide in November whether to ban regulated utilities like DTE – and government contractors – from making political donations.
The Board of State Canvassers approved the proposal after MMOP gathered over 500,000 signatures. A pro-DTE group, Protect MI Free Speech, opposes the ballot and has filed a lawsuit to stop it, saying that many of the signatures are invalid.
“Michiganders are ready to finally reign in pay-to-play politics and out-of-control political spending in Lansing this November,” said Christy McGillivray, co-chair of MMOP.
Make sure you are registered to vote and block companies like DTE from influencing Michigan politics!
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Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition
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Ann Arbor for Public Power
A DTE-funded group, the Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition is suing the city of Ann Arbor and its clerk, Jacqueline Beaudry, over Beaudry’s certification of the petitions to be on the November ballot for the city to begin a city-owned electric company to replace DTE.
The Board of State Canvassers approved the ballot language as it is with 5,383 valid signatures; the requirement was 4,957 – 5% of registered voters.
Ann Arbor for Public Power is the citizens group that gathered the signature to get the issue on the November ballot.
“This groundless lawsuit is a direct attack on the will of the people to have an alternative to DTE on the November ballot,” said Brian Geiringer, executive director of Ann Arbor for Public Power.
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The United States’ First Nuclear Accident
One of our coalition elders, Kathleen Peabody, has written this essay regarding the near-meltdown that occurred at the Fermi 1 power plant:
October 5, 2026 marks the 60th Anniversary of the near meltdown of Michigan’s Fermi I nuclear power plant. Fermi I was built on the shores of Lake Erie near Monroe. The experimental Fermi I reactor had generated just 52 hours of electricity when workers had to shut the plant down, with minutes to spare before complete meltdown and release of radioactivity to a wide, populated area. Back in the 1950s and ‘60s, when this energy source was being sold to all without proper testing or health trials, the general public was left out of the planning. Emphasis was placed on the energy it could produce, but not the potential for accidents or damages it posed, certainly not on the radioactive waste it would leave behind.
Check out this month’s insert to read the full essay!
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Thanks for supporting us and a safer world powered by renewables.
We’re in this together!
Peace and Safety,
The CRAFT Team
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Submitted by admin on Tue, 09/01/2026 - 16:27
