It’s pretty safe to say that We Energies’ proposed rate hikes and new penalties on clean energy systems are pretty unpopular. No matter how you slice it, consumers will pay more simply to improve the monopoly’s bottom line. But We Energies claims it’s all about “fairness.” Right.
So when a representative from a Houston group named Consumers Energy Alliance submitted 2,500 names to the state Public Service Commission (PSC) in support of We Energies’ proposal—and a similar one proposed by Madison Gas and Electric—a few eyebrows were raised.
Over in Madison, Cap Times reporter Mike Ivey called a few of the names on the list and those folks were really surprised by their alleged support. In fact, they told Ivey that they oppose the rate hike.
Add Michael Sinicki to that list, too.
Who?
The husband of state Rep. Christine Sinicki, a Milwaukee Democrat, who told me “there’s no way in hell” her husband supports We Energies’ proposal. She doesn’t like it, either.
In his Oct. 8 testimony before a representative of the PSC—sadly, none of the PSC commissioners attended the Milwaukee public hearings—Ryan Scott, Consumers Energy Alliance’s state director for state affairs and policy, gave a vague explanation about the way the group gathered the names of supporters. They called, they let people sign upon their website—it’s all very sketchy.
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I couldn’t find a whole lot about Consumers Energy Alliance. It supports an “all of the above” energy plan, but, interestingly, the CEA’s version of “all” only includes coal, nuclear and wind. Solar and other forms of green energy don’t make the cut. That list is about as reliable as the one it submitted to the PSC, methinks.
