University spokeswoman Kim 
Broekhuizen said the commission 
sought 
to 
include 
diverse 
perspectives from various fields of 
expertise in its mission to achieve 
carbon neutrality, noting DTE and 
Consumers’ pledge to incorporate 
more renewable energy sources into 
their portfolios.
“It is absolutely critical for the 
energy industry to be a part of 
U-M’s exploration of scalable and 
transferable solutions given the 
fact that these companies are the 
number one energy providers/
sources for our region and state,” 
Broekhuizen wrote in an email. 
“In addition, they have each made 
their own renewables commitment 
and 
are 
engaged 
in 
strategy 
development that will be useful to 
our own efforts.”
The first town hall of the 
President’s Commission on Carbon 
Neutrality on is expected to draw 
a capacity crowd at Rackham 
Auditorium on Monday night. 
Broekhuizen said the commission is 

intent on getting feedback from the 
University community.
“Community 
input 
also 
is 
critical to the development of the 
recommendations,” 
Broekhuizen 
wrote. 
“The 
commission 
is 
creating several advisory panels 
– representing students, faculty, 
university partners and external 
stakeholders – to provide various 
perspectives and expertise, and 
to serve as a forum for connecting 
with key stakeholder groups.”
Hofmeister and Serna, on the 
other hand, see their roles on the 
commission in a positive light, 
saying they feel they can work to 
ensure the commission is able to not 
only plan but achieve and carry out 
their carbon neutrality goals. 
Both are well-versed in the 
energy 
industry.A 
former 
law 
professor at Wayne State University, 
Hofmeister published an article 
in 
the 
Michigan 
Journal 
of 
Environmental and Administrative 
Law in 2012 discussing the benefits 
and drawbacks of state energy 
regulators acting as “potential 
climate change regulators.” 
Serna 
was 
previously 
vice 

president for strategic planning 
and policy for Eversource Energy, 
New 
England’s 
largest 
utility 
company, and before that, Serna 
worked for Oliver Wyman’s Energy 
& Utilities management consulting 
practice, consulting utility and 
energy companies in Europe, Latin 
America and North America. 
Serna 
said 
the 
University’s 
relationship with DTE would 
enable the utility to be a crucial 
partner 
in 
achieving 
carbon 
neutrality. 
He 
said 
Schlissel 
recognized this dynamic.
“As I understand, the President 
was thinking about this goal of 
carbon neutrality and what that 
might mean for the University 
when he started interacting with 
different folks here within DTE,” 
Serna said. “He understands that 
we as an energy provider to the 
University are going to be a critical 
partner as he thinks through how to 
reach this goal of carbon neutrality, 
so in those discussions he solicited 
for help through DTE.”
Serna said his experience in the 
energy industry perspective would 
offer the commission a valuable 
perspective.
“I can imagine we’ll provide 
our perspective on where we as 
a company, DTE, (are) headed, 
what type of programs we have 
now or we might have in the 
future that could support the 
University in achievement of 
this goal,” Serna said. “I see my 
role … as being able to provide 
that industry perspective as to 
what’s happening in the energy 
landscape, what’s happening 
with DTE and how those could 
be of help to the University in 
achieving its ultimate goal of 
achieving carbon neutrality.”
Hofmeister said Consumers’ 
drive 
for 
environmental 
sustainability is one of the 
forces behind his motivation to 
aid the Commission in its goals 
for carbon neutrality.
“The 
University 
is 
an 
important stakeholder in the 
state of Michigan,” he said. 
“Consumers Energy cares a lot 
about the state of Michigan; 
we care about our customers ... 
Whether it’s greenhouse gas or 
other sustainability missions, 
we want to work as partners 
to enable the customers vision. 

We ourselves have a pretty strong 
commitment 
to 
environmental 
sustainability and are pretty well 
versed in energy related issues to 
the extent we can help partner 
with any customer or stakeholder, 
particularly a great Michigan 
institution like the University, 
achieve whatever its goals are.”
According to a 2015 report 
from the President’s Greenhouse 
Gas Reduction Committee, the 
University purchases more than 60 
percent of its electricity needs from 
DTE. CAM founder Julian Hansen, 
an LSA junior, said the utilities 
had a financial stake that could 
negatively affect the outcome of the 
commission.
 “A swift transition to U of M 
carbon neutrality would most likely 
decrease this reliance that we have 
with DTE and therefore that causes 
DTE and Consumers Energy to 
have a financial incentive to slow 
down the transition to carbon 
neutrality,” Hansen said.
Financial 
incentives 
have 
played a major role in power 
utilities’ responses to clean energy 
across the country, which have 
varied from lukewarm to outright 
opposition. In Michigan, DTE 
and Consumers Energy have a 
mixed record on their approach 
to renewable energy. Both have 
pledged to get 25 percent of their 
energy from renewable sources by 
2030, with Consumers announcing 
plans in February 2018 to stop using 
coal to generate electricity by 2040, 
by which time DTE plans to retire 
all of its coal-fired plants.
DTE aims to reduce carbon 
emissions by 80 percent by 2050, 
while Consumers Energy intends 
to cut its emissions by 90 percent 
by 2040, in addition to getting 
40 percent of its energy from 
renewable sources and energy 
storage by the same year. However, 
despite 
these 
commitments, 
environmental groups see room 
for improvement when it comes 
to DTE and Consumers Energy’s 
track records on clean energy, 
taking issue in particular with the 
utilities’ reliance on fossil fuels.

THE DISTILLE RY DISTRICT

2A — Monday, March 11, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
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spring break trip to Toronto, checking out the various shops, galleries and restaurants located in the restored Victoian industrial buildings. 

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