Press release

Consumer Energy Alliance Announces New Energy Education Campaign

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Sponsored by Businesswire

Consumer
Energy Alliance
(CEA) today announced a statewide campaign focused
on educating families, businesses, and state and local lawmakers about
the benefits of the critical role energy delivery infrastructure plays
in the everyday lives of Michiganders. “Moving Michigan” will
focus on bringing greater awareness to communities, public officials,
and leaders about how rejecting or delaying energy delivery
infrastructure, like pipelines, adversely impacts residents and
businesses all across Michigan. Moreover, it ultimately hurts
lower-income households and those on fixed incomes.

Recently, the Line 5 pipeline has become highly politicized. Much of the
recent debate has ignored the work that was taken on by the Michigan
Pipeline Safety Advisory Board created by the State of Michigan starting
in 2015, and a subsequent independent report
commissioned by the State that evaluated the need, efficacy, and ability
to build the pipeline safely and the benefits it would provide
communities and the environment. In the report, the authors, accounting
only for transportation fuel, identified that motorists would pay more
than $121 million per year if Line 5 is shut down. When you add propane
for home heating, consumers would be expected to pay an additional $80
million per year.

CEA’s campaign comes at a critical time when Americans, on average,
spend more
than $3,500 annually
on energy-related costs. For a low-income
consumer living at the poverty line, that could mean up to 29 percent of
their monthly income – an astonishing amount. According to the Census
Bureau, the average median income in Michigan is $52,668, and sadly,
more than 1.4 million Michiganders live
in poverty
. These are people who can’t afford to pay more for basic
necessities.

The launch of this statewide movement, aimed at depoliticizing the
discussion around energy infrastructure, will give individuals,
families, businesses, and elected officials a balanced perspective about
how energy truly impacts the state and to encourage more thoughtful
discussions about energy delivery and environmental standards. The
effort will comprise a full-scale awareness program that includes new
educational websites, media, community and stakeholder outreach,
targeted digital advocacy efforts, and grassroots events and activities.

“Since Line 5 came into service, safely delivering energy for over 65
years, families, farmers, and businesses across Michigan have come to
rely on the energy the pipeline provides every day,” said Chris Ventura,
CEA’s Midwest Executive Director. “Since the first time fuel was
distributed through the line, engineering and environmental technology
have greatly advanced, allowing this much-needed energy infrastructure
to be upgraded.”

Ventura added: “Unlike elites who make substantial incomes and can
afford budget fluctuations for things like food and transportation,
families across Michigan cannot afford to pay more than $200 million per
year in increased fuel costs if Line 5 is prematurely shut down.
Families living below the poverty line and those on fixed incomes are
more concerned about making ends meet every day, not banking political
points for the next election.

“As stewards of our Great Lakes, placing Line 5 under 100 feet of
bedrock, below the Straits of Mackinac, will further protect the natural
resources we all enjoy for generations to come. The political games at
the expense of our state’s families and our environment need to stop, so
we can ensure people all across Michigan can continue to enjoy their
lives, at a budget they can afford.”

CEA, a national consumer advocacy organization representing varied types
of consumers like families, manufacturers, agriculture, transporters,
distributors, energy producers, renewables and a variety of other
industries, focuses on helping ensure stable prices and energy security
for households across the country. The organization pushes energy
companies to innovate and improve performance while supporting energy
independence and diversification of our energy resources, including
renewables like solar and wind.

About Consumer Energy Alliance

Consumer
Energy Alliance
(CEA) is the leading consumer advocate for energy,
bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors,
producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally
sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide,
our mission is to help ensure stable prices and energy security for
households and businesses across the country. CEA works daily to
encourage people across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and
environmentally responsible solutions to meet our energy needs.