May 2026
Michigan House Passes Energy Law “Repealer Bills
Senate leader says bills are DOA
The Michigan House of Representatives voted 58-47 and 57-48 to approve House Bills 5710-5711, legislation that would repeal the 2023 energy law updates. MICEF opposed the bills because they would eliminate the state's energy efficiency programs that have saved utility customers hundreds of millions of dollars. They also repeal clean energy standards based on the claim basis that adding renewables to our generation portfolio is driving rate increases. We reported last month on how the data from our major utilities show that renewable energy is cost competitive with natural gas generation and will save customers money in the long run.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Winnie Brinks stated clearly that the Democrat-controlled Senate had no interest in taking up the bills. Michigan energy policy can be improved by promoting more market-based solutions and competition. It won't be improved by repealing policies that are cost-effective and improve our energy capacity.
MICEF Welcomes Ryan Carrigan
In May, Ryan Carrigan joined the MICEF team as the Policy & Program Senior Manager. He has 20 years of public policy experience while exclusively working in the energy industry the past five years. He has an extensive background working in land use, real estate, and permitting and continues to support several local townships in zoning and planning matters. Ryan has a graduate degree in applied economics and completed his undergrad at Kalamazoo College in political science. When not talking about energy policy he is most likely sailing Lake Michigan, fly fishing up north, or out hiking with his dogs.
Wind & Solar Overtake Gas Generation
According to energy aggregator, Ember, worldwide electricity data for the month of April showed, for the first time ever, that wind and solar energy outpaced natural gas-powered generation. Coal is still king as the single largest generation fuel source, and wind and solar have to be combined to surpass natural gas. However, when nuclear and other emission-free sources like hydro are added to wind and solar, clean energy is no longer a fringe portion of the generation mix.
Each year brings additional clean energy online that is more affordable. That trajectory is not going so slow down for the next decade. It's why MICEF and the Conservative Energy Network have consistently promoted secure, reliable, affordable, clean American energy that is not influenced by international conflicts and price shocks.
Is Solid State Battery Tech Truly Here?
MICEF has been tracking the claims of the Finland-based battery tech company, Donut Lab, since January with its announcement that it had legitimate solid state battery (SSB) technology ready for commercial production. In the past couple months, two more companies are claiming they have SSB technology ready for mass production. Chinese automaker, Greater Bay Technology, says they've gone one step further and are rolling the first vehicles off their production line with SSB tech that charges in minutes and has 621 miles of range (though we don't know if that's the Chinese, European or American range standard, because it does matter). Greater Bay says their technology has no liquid in its electrolyte and has passed every stress test without catching fire.
Likewise, ProLogium, based in Taiwan, has allowed independent testing and review of their technology and their production processes. Thus far, the tech checks out and ProLogium has made plans for a major production facility to be built in France.
These three companies say SSB is here and it is going to start appearing in every application where batteries are used. The performance of these batteries will be dramatically better than existing battery technologies. It is one thing for a single start-up company to claim they've made a technology breakthrough, but with three companies making that claim, and Toyota saying they are not far behind, have we entered the true era of SSB? If so, almost everything related to electricity use is about to change
Grid Level Carbon-Heat Batteries in South Dakota
"In a groundbreaking project, South Dakota-based POET has partnered with Antora Energy of California to launch a thermal energy storage system adjacent to POET's ethanol plant in Big Stone City," reads the story from South Dakota News Watch. The 5 GWh facility will store excess electricity from wind turbines in the form of heat energy within carbon blocks. The insulated blocks can reach 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, with the heat being used to create steam for multiple production purposes at the Ethanol plant.
Deploying this comparatively new form of energy storage at this scale will make it one of the largest energy storage facilities in the world. It seems appropriate that large blocks of carbon to store energy will be deployed in Big Stone City.