Our neighbors need a clean, affordable, and people-centered energy system that can withstand the increasingly frequent severe weather events as our climate drastically changes. It is time for Michigan legislators to answer to Michigan residents and hold investor-owned utilities accountable by creating a clean and affordable alternative that serves working people, not wealthy corporations.
Consumers Energy, like other investor-owned utilities (IOUs), is ultimately concerned with extracting the most profits for its investors and shareholders to whom the company answers. It is clear to Michigan residents that they cannot count on these IOUs, like Consumers Energy, to protect their interests in providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy to Michigan residents without policy interventions and regulation from our government.
“The Darker Side of Consumers Energy: Extracting Profits, Causing Harm, and Damaging Democracy” digs into some of the most problematic aspects of Consumers Energy’s practices that cause financial and health harm to Michigan residents and our planet. Moreover, key findings in this report reveal Michigan legislators have failed to implement the necessary policy interventions to hold the utilities accountable because the IOUs have spent millions of dollars on lobbying efforts, direct donations, and dark money to influence our state government, regardless of party.
This report is created in partnership and collaboration with LittleSis, University of Michigan Science, Technology, and Public Policy, Energy and Policy Institute, and Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition.
| Executive | 2022 Compensation | CMS Energy Shares Owned | CMS Stock Value as of August 24, 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Garrick Rochow,
President & CEO |
$8,706,194 |
359,925 |
$20.4 million |
|
Rejji Hayes, Executive VP & CFO |
$3,586,679 |
184,726 |
$10.6 million |
|
Brandon Hofmeister,
Senior VP |
$1,940,679 |
62,664 |
$3.6 million |
|
Shaun Johnson, Senior VP
& General Counsel |
$2,051,110 |
57,599 |
$3.3 million |
|
Brian Rich, Senior VP |
$1,916,706 |
91,603 |
$5.2 million |
|
Total |
$18,201,368 |
693,853 |
$43.1 million |
Source: CMS Energy DEF 14A (2023), Forms 4 (2023), and Yahoo! Finance
CMS Energy has people all over our politics in Michigan.
Several top CMS Energy executives sit on the boards of corporate advocacy organizations and government planning bodies, including the Detroit Regional Chamber; Business Leaders for Michigan; the Michigan Chamber of Commerce; Governor Whitmer’s Council on Climate Solutions; and the Consumers Energy dark money group, Citizens for Energizing Michigan’s Economy.
These positions allow Consumers to ensure private utility profits are part of the business community’s wider policy agenda and clean up its reputation by associating itself with charity. And in the case of Governor Whitmer’s climate council, the presence of a Consumers Energy executive who helps run the corporation’s political dark money group is a direct conflict of interest.
Source: LittleSis