DTE, Consumers Energy file federal lawsuit challenging Michigan Proposal 2

Just two days after voters overwhelmingly approved Proposal 2, which sought to block investor-owned utilities and other state contractors from making political donations in Michigan, the state's two largest utilities filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the ban.

DTE Energy and Consumers Energy filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday. The 39-page lawsuit argues that because utility companies are directly affected by state policies, they should be able to engage in political advocacy like other organizations. 

In a statement sent to CBS Detroit on Thursday, DTE says that "Our company is made up of 10,000 Michiganders whose fundamental right to free speech is under attack. They deserve the same rights as their friends and neighbors to support the candidates and issues they care about."  

But opponents of the utility companies, like members of Ann Arbor for Public Power, aren't buying it.

"They will just say whatever they have to and will do whatever they can to ensure as much as our money gets into their shareholders' pockets as possible," Brian Geiringer, the executive director of Ann Arbor for Public Power, told CBS News Detroit.

Geiringer added, "DTE neglects to upkeep its grid, and it means people pay more and more and more for absolutely terrible service while they destroy the environment, and that's the reason they want to get rid of them, and the lawsuit just further reveals this unfortunate dynamic."

Geiringer said he has had problems with DTE for years, so much so that he created an organization to push for a public utility to replace DTE in Ann Arbor. Like hundreds of thousands of other Michiganders, he voted in favor of Proposal 2. 

"It's just very telling that these two companies sort of resort to lawfare when the democratic will does not go in their direction," he said.

CBS News Detroit has reached out to the law firm representing both utility companies and has not yet heard back. The Michigan State Board of Canvassers is required by law to certify the results no later than Nov. 23. The proposal will go into effect 10 days after that certification.

The lawsuit comes after the Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed its federal lawsuit on Election Day to block some of the requirements of the proposal,