In Michigan, the price of energy is on the ballot and both parties know it
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- Michigan gas prices jumped roughly 32% in three weeks after the Iran war began in late February, rising from $2.99 to $3.95 a gallon, including a 90-cent single-week spike among the sharpest in any midterm battleground
- Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a formal energy emergency to let southeast Michigan stations sell cheaper summer-blend fuel, though prices kept climbing anyway and briefly topped $4
- Climate Power's mid-June survey of 600 likely Michigan voters found 58% said Trump made energy prices more expensive and 63% rejected his claim that high gas prices are "a small price to pay" for the Iran war
- Trump's economic approval among Michigan Republicans fell from 74% to 62% between March and April, and a Democrat won a May state Senate special election by nearly 20 points in a district Kamala Harris carried by less than one
- Michigan lost $4.1 billion in planned clean manufacturing investment and roughly 11,700 jobs after Trump-era rollbacks, while $540 million in climate grants were canceled or delayed, including $156 million for low-income solar installation
- House Republicans passed "Project Lighthouse" to repeal the 2023 Clean Energy and Jobs Act's 100% renewable electricity mandate, though the legislation is likely dead in the Democratic-held Senate
- More than 150 Michigan politicians from both parties pledged to reject campaign funding from Consumers Energy and DTE, even as Consumers Energy requested another electricity rate hike this week
Why it matters: DTE Energy and Consumers Energy will submit their first integrated resource plans in 2026 under Michigan's 2023 clean energy law — meaning November's election will set the ground rules just as utilities' biggest spending decisions take effect, and whichever party controls Lansing directly decides whether ratepayers absorb renewable buildouts, aging coal plants, or data-center-driven rate hikes.
