Escanaba council opts into MPPA energy waste reduction program; residents to see small line-item increase

Escanaba City Council voted to opt into the Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA) Energy Waste Reduction (EWR) program, a step officials say fulfills a state requirement that utilities run energy savings programs.

The MPPA option is projected to add about a 2.3% surcharge to electricity revenue collections for customers, compared with an estimated 3.4% under the state-run option; council members were told the change would appear as a separate line item on electric bills and is expected to begin in January 2026.

Why it matters: Public Act 229 (referred to in the meeting as “public act 2 29”), passed in 2023, requires utilities to run an EWR program and to achieve energy savings targets. City staff described MPPA’s proposal as having lower administrative cost and estimated the program would be roughly $120,000 less per year than the state program the council could have selected.

At the city meeting, a staff presenter said MPPA solicited proposals from program providers and recommended Franklin Energy as the vendor. Jerry Percola, who described the program details, said Franklin Energy’s proposal is similar to programs the city has run previously and includes required low-income measures: refrigerator replacement, LED kits and customer education. Percola said the MPPA option would include both residential and commercial measures and local outreach through the vendor.

Percola answered council questions about customer access and timing. He said: “We’ll have the link on our website. We’ll put it on social media. You know, we can put it, you know, like, on the radio, different ways, wherever we can advertise.” On cost he said: “We’re guessing based on my preliminary calculations about 2.3%,” and that the surcharge would be a small fraction of current per-kilowatt-hour rates.

Council was told the deadline to join the state program was July 1; by opting into MPPA now, staff will work with MPPA to prepare a required EWR plan that the council will review and approve later (targeted around August). The city indicated the EWR charge will start on bills in January 2026.

The council voted to approve the opt-in. The motion noted the program is budgeted for the 2025–26 fiscal year and that the city’s electrical advisory committee recommended MPPA’s program.

Looking ahead: If the council had not chosen MPPA, it would have needed to join the state program before the July deadline; council members and staff said the MPPA route reduces administrative cost and will return with a formal plan for council approval.