Ann Arbor voters to decide on city-owned utility. What to know about Proposal E.

In Ann Arbor, power literally hangs in the balance with the midterm elections.

Voters will decide whether the city moves toward energy independence by voting on Proposal E.

The ballot proposal asks voters to approve creating a nine-member municipal electric utility board to operate a publicly owned power grid and set rates.

"Ann Arbor would be the first place in Michigan to go from a private utility to a public utility," said Ann Arbor for Public Power executive director Brian Geiringer.

The person who wrote Proposal E says local control over Ann Arbor's power will lower electric bills for residents, make the grid more reliable and replace DTE.

"The other thing that's really great about them setting the rates and being in control is that it makes it so that if you have an issue with your electricity, you can go down to city hall and you can complain. There's real accountability," Geiringer said.

Proposal E won't authorize the purchase of DTE's assets, but that will have to happen down the line to create a publicly owned grid, according to Geiringer. That potential price tag is why some are hesitant to vote yes on the measure.

"Even the most conservative estimates are around $180 million, and on the high side, it could be $1 billion," said Michigan Environmental Council president and CEO Conan Smith.

Smith says it makes more sense to allocate those costs to the city's Sustainable Energy Utility, another city effort to control its own power, which voters approved through a ballot proposal in 2024.

"We already have a municipal structure. What this proposal would do is derail that effort and focus our energy and attention on acquiring DTE's infrastructure. The money that we would need to do that could be going directly to renewable energy projects right now," he said.

If Proposal E passes, voters will hit the polls again in 2028 to elect five of the nine board members, with the other four appointed by the city council.