** Please consider contributing to Krystal’s GoFundMe associated with this story** Although we’re generally not direct service providers at EEP, from my 11 years work at EcoWorks, a Detroit non-profit, I learned when people reach out, you respond. Last week we presented on our Energy Bill Transparency Initiative at a ratepayer clinic organized by MichiganContinueContinue reading “Shielding a single stone – the experience of combating one mom’s energy shutoff”
Author Archives: Justin Schott
EEP’s DTE Testimony is Filed – Reflecting on Legacies of Shutoffs and Activism in Detroit
Last Friday, we filed 106 pages of testimony and 980 pages of exhibits (give or take) opposing DTE Energy’s request for a $574 million (11% residential) rate increase. A week removed from that marathon, here are my reflections. Evaluating EEP’s Role We were drowning for weeks in our almost-but-never-finished testimony for DTE’s latest rate case.ContinueContinue reading “EEP’s DTE Testimony is Filed – Reflecting on Legacies of Shutoffs and Activism in Detroit”
The Story of Cal and Lena
We’ve been thinking a lot about data centers, as I imagine many of you have—what they will mean for affordability and the climate, the costs of mining the next cryptocurrency. But I’ve also been thinking a lot about the tendency to treat our minds as data centers, demanding 24-7 processing of information that sucks aContinueContinue reading “The Story of Cal and Lena”
Energy Equity Project to launch Regulators Gettin’ Real TV Show
Energy Equity Project (EEP) is widely known for its work supporting frontline organizations in pursuit of their own visions of community-controlled energy. So the news that EEP is wading into the morass of reality TV may come as a surprise. I sat down with the EEP team to discuss what sparked this shift in strategyContinueContinue reading “Energy Equity Project to launch Regulators Gettin’ Real TV Show”
#WageLove
In memory of Charity Hicks, Detroit Water Activist
Rethinking Procedural Equity
I’ve been revisiting ideas of procedural equity in the energy system since the election. The procedures that govern who is selected to regulate utilities and how stakeholders can access and sway decisions have profound impacts on the distribution of benefits and negative impacts. Procedural equity is at the root of whether energy bills are affordable,ContinueContinue reading “Rethinking Procedural Equity”
Energy Justice Scriptures: A New American Translation
A poem by Justin Schott dedicated to 100 million souls held captive by the valley of the shadow of utility shutoffs.
Energy Equity Project validates new utility ratemaking approach with groundbreaking “Children’s Jellybean Electron Allocation Study”
Ann Arbor, MI | April 1, 2024 Introduction For more than a decade, Justin Schott has been fighting for energy equity in places like Detroit, but progress, in his words, was “slow to non-existent.” Schott, who directs the Energy Equity Project (EEP) at University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, had enough of spinning hisContinueContinue reading “Energy Equity Project validates new utility ratemaking approach with groundbreaking “Children’s Jellybean Electron Allocation Study””
Why Do We Still Have Energy Shutoffs? Another World is Possible.
By Justin B. Schott | November 14, 2022 It is straightforward: An energy system that actively subsidizes clean energy investments for the rich and for corporations while actively depriving poor people from simply accessing heat and electricity is not just. This should not be a gray issue. But just as importantly, shutoffs are not inevitable result ofContinueContinue reading “Why Do We Still Have Energy Shutoffs? Another World is Possible.”