Lansing, Michigan – October 7, 2015 – State Representative Scott Dianda (D-Calumet) today said that Upper Peninsula residents are being misled by telephone robo-calls, and now postcards, pushing a Republican-sponsored package of energy bills, House Bills 4297-4298. The caller coaches the resident on what to say in support of the plan and then directly connects him or her to Dianda’s office line. They then tell Dianda to support the two bills.
“My constituents are being told that unless the Legislature approves these bills, their energy rates will dramatically increase and that just isn’t true,” said Dianda. “The Republican plan looks at all Michigan’s energy needs as the same and fails to understand that the energy needs of U.P. communities are different than those of communities below the bridge.”
Dianda said that it’s more economically feasible for U.P. energy companies to provide energy to U.P. customers. He views the Republican bills as treating all of Michigan as the same, and he disagrees with the bills that seem to say that what is good energy policy for people in the southwest corner of the Lower Peninsula, for example, is good energy policy for people in his District 110, which is the far western and northwestern part of the U.P.
“I don’t see that these bills will create more reliable energy sources for my constituents, or save them money,” said Dianda. “My constituents pay the highest energy bills in the continental United States. You have to go to the Hawaiian Islands to find higher energy costs. We need a plan that addresses the specific energy needs of the U.P., and not a-one-size-fits-all energy plan.”
Dianda also takes issue with another energy-related bill, House Bill 4575, that could result in energy generated in the Lower Peninsula being transmitted to the Upper Peninsula. Were this to happen, it might significantly raise energy costs for U.P. families.
We need an energy plan that takes into account the U.Ps specific needs, that will create jobs and ensure a reliable energy source for residents in my district and across the U.P.,” said Dianda. “I don’t see any of these bills achieving that, so that is why I won’t be supporting them, and why I will be working toward a better energy plan.”
Click To Submit Press Releases, News, Calendar Items, and Community Events to mediaBrew radio stations WFXD, WKQS, WRUP, GTO, Fox Sport Marquette, and 106.1 The Sound
Marquette, Michigan Calendar; Ishpeming Calendar; Negaunee Calendar; Gwinn Calendar; Negaunee Calendar and Events; Upper Peninsula Calendar of Events; Escanaba Events and Calendar