Dive Summary:

• A mandate up for approval this November will require Michigan to get 25% of its electricity from renewable sources, a requirement the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) is officially opposing.
• Craig Borr, president and CEO of the MECA, says that the mandate will “cost Michigan businesses and families at least $12 billion.”
• The proposal would make Michigan the first state in the country to include a renewable portfolio standard in its constitution; at the moment, utilities are on pace to derive 10% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015 under a 2008 state legislature plan.

From the article:

The Michigan Electric Cooperative Association announced its opposition to the 25 percent renewable energy constitutional mandate on the Nov. 6 ballot. The group also announced that they have joined the Clean Affordable Renewable Energy for Michigan Coalition.

"Our number one priority is making sure that Michigan citizens and families have reliable, affordable electricity," said Craig Borr, president and CEO of the MECA. "While we support efforts in renewable energy, locking energy policy into our state's constitution and counting on the wind to blow and the sun to shine is the wrong approach for Michigan's electric needs and energy future." ...