More than 450,000 DTE Energy customers lost power in last week’s storms. Many of them will not see a dollar for it.

Michigan requires DTE to credit customers $42 a day when the lights stay off. But the rule, written by the Michigan Public Service Commission, works on a sliding scale: the bigger the storm, the longer the wait. In the largest outages, nothing starts until day four. Power was back for most customers before then.

The storms produced three tornadoes, including one that tore across Detroit’s east side Thursday with 115 mph winds and kept going into Windsor — the first inside the city since 1997.

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat who represents Dearborn and part of Detroit, has spent this year pressing both the company and the state regulators who set that rule. In February, a federal judge fined DTE and a subsidiary $100 million for air pollution at Zug Island. Two days later, regulators approved a $242 million rate increase. In April, the company asked for $474 million more.

Her bill, the Make DTE Pay Act, would raise Clean Air Act penalties on utilities that seek rate increases within two years of an environmental fine. 

Tlaib joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss the storm, the rule and the regulators who wrote it.

The Metro contacted DTE Energy and did not receive a response by airtime.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.

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Is money corrupting Michigan’s politics?

According to a Politico poll, 72% of Americans say there’s too much money in politics. Respondents said special interest spending leads to corruption that should be restricted. 

In Michigan, a local campaign believes residents can have a stronger, more representative democracy if political spending by some big-time actors is limited.

The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics measure, which is now on the November ballot, would change some aspects of how money gets into the hands of politicians and political candidates. 

Voters decide Nov. 3, though opponents have asked the Michigan Supreme Court to block it.

Sean McBrearty is the executive committee co-chair for the Michiganders for Money out of Politics campaign.  He spoke with producer and host Robyn Vincent about what happens if the ballot measure passes.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.

Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro