Ann Arbor For Public Power vs. Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition: A Misinformation War on Both Sides

Updated May 1, 2026 with a comment from Tegwyn John of A2P2.

by P.D. Lesko

Ann Arbor for Public Power (A2P2) is a local group circulating petitions to gather 6,500 signatures to put the question to local voters of establishing a municipal electric utility governance board. According to the group’s website, “The initiative will determine if Ann Arbor will establish the governance structure for a municipal electric utility that would replace DTE. A2P2 aims to collect signatures of Ann Arbor voters to place the question on the ballot in November 2026. If approved, a charter amendment would set elections for the public utility governing board in 2028.” The A2P2 website also states that, “Ann Arbor for Public Power is a Michigan nonprofit, 501(c)(4).” The IRS Charitable Division records show that on November 15, 2024 the group’s nonprofit status was automatically revoked for failure to submit federal income tax returns since 2020.

The proposed Utility Governing Board would advise Ann Arbor City Council (like the Economic Development Corporation Board). While voters would directly elect five members of the proposed Utility Governing Board, the Board is functionally symbolic as is its purported democratic control of the electric utility. City Council, and not the Utility Governing Board, would ultimately set electric rates.

A2P2 Exec. Dir. Brian Geiringer was asked about the group’s loss of its nonprofit status and continued claims that A2P2 is a “Michigan nonprofit.” Several of the members of the A2P2 Advisory Board, including A2P2 founder and former Michigan Rep. Michelle Deatrick, Washtenaw County Commissioner and candidate for Ann Arbor Mayor Yousef Rabhi, Ypsilanti City Council member Desirae Simmons, Pontiac City Council member Mikal Goodman, and Clean Water Action’s Michigan Legislative and Policy Director Sean McBrearty were all asked if they were aware the IRS had revoked A2P2’s nonprofit status in 2024. No A2P2 representative has yet responded.

A2P2 official Tegwyn John said in an April 30, 2026 email: “A2P2 is currently a 501(c)4 nonprofit. We got up-to-date last year, after good-faith efforts by volunteers lead to a failure to file in a timely manner. The effective date of A2P2’s exemption is retroactive to the date of its revocation, November 15, 2024. We have contacted the IRS a few times within the last couple months, asking why the organization’s current status is not reflected in their publicly viewable website. We have been assured that on the backend of their system A2P2 is indeed a 501(c)4, and were given an estimate that the [IRS] website will be updated to reflect this by the second Monday in June.”

The A2P2 website also solicits donations. Donations to 501(c)4 groups—groups that lobby—are not tax deductible. Because the group’s 501(c)4 nonprofit status was revoked, it has been a for profit entity whose income is subject to state and federal income taxes. It’s not known whether A2P2 filed the required state and federal income tax returns between 2021-2025.

Campaign finance forms submitted to the Washtenaw County Clerk show that on July 23, 2025 Ann Arbor for Public Power formed Ann Arbor for Public Power Ballot Question Committee. The Exec. Dir. of A2P2, Ypsilanti resident Brian Geiringer, is listed as the designated recordkeeper. While the Ballot Question Committee is required to submit quarterly and annual campaign finances forms beginning in 2025, the group’s failure to submit federal 990, 990-EZ or 990-N income tax returns means that years of its finances are, in essence, a secret from the public. DTE’s finances, on the other hand, are available to the public through SEC filings searchable through the SEC’s EDGAR database.

On April 21, 2026, A2P2’s Communication Director, a University of Michigan student named Tegwyn John, sent out a press release and then a corrected press release in which the A2P2 group announced that DTE had launched a front group—Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition—to oppose the work of A2P2’s own Ballot Question Committee. One of the points made in the press release was that the funding for Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition has come “from outside Ann Arbor.”

One Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition donor, Mark S. Helsel, Jr., lives in Dexter. He donated $25,000; ballot question committees may receive unlimited contribution amounts from a legal source. It’s clear from the group’s campaign finance forms that DTE is involved with Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition. The address of the group’s treasurer and recordkeeper is 205 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC. That address is an office building where a company called Aristotle is headquartered. Aristotle provides “advocacy consulting services.” DTE’s direct involvement as per the campaign finance forms are in-kind donations of $600 for “employee salary FMV.”

An examination of the A2P2 funding secured between 2021-2024 is not possible due to the group’s failure to file required 990 federal income tax returns. The A2P2 funding for those years is, in essence, hidden from the public, unlike the funding declared on the campaign finance forms submitted by Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition and examined by A2P2 officials.

While A2P2’s April 21 press release reveals that most of Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition’s $75,000 in funding has come from outside Ann Arbor, the same is true of A2P2.

The A2P2 Ballot Question Committee campaign finance forms show that of the approximately $24,900 brought in as of its 2025 Annual Statement, filed Jan. 6, 2026, $20,000 came through a California group—the Tides Foundation—that connects funders (corporate and philanthropic) to nonprofits pursuing social justice projects. The individuals who made large donations to the A2P2 Ballot Question Committee include UM lecturer in Environmental Policy and Planning Kimberly Smith ($1,000) and A2P2 Exec. Dir. Brian Geiringer ($500). Geiringer also donated $3,615 in services.

The $20,000 grant to A2P2 through the Tides Foundation is dated Nov. 7, 2020. The date of the IRS letter through which the nonprofit’s exemption was granted and recognized is June 29, 2021. Michigan business entity registration records show that Ann Arbor for Public Power was registered with the state as a nonprofit corporation on June 29, 2021. The Tides Foundation requires applicants to declare a nonprofit organizational structure (i.e. 501(c)3) in order to be considered eligible for Tides Foundation programs and services. In Nov. 2020, Ann Arbor for Public Power had no organizational structure, was unregistered with the State of Michigan and had no recognized exemption from the IRS.

A2P2’s April 21 press release accuses Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition of spreading “fear and misinformation.”

One of A2P2’s selling points is that local customers “will be charged significantly less on average for much better service than what DTE provides.” The A2P2 website states as fact that public power will be “Affordable: Ensure power is available and affordable to everyone in Ann Arbor.” This is simply not true.

Shoshanna Lenski, Exec. Dir. of Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility (A2SEU) [unaffiliated with A2P2 and an alternative to A2P2] said in an April 16, 2026 email that, “More customers will help the A2SEU offer lower rates. As we’re currently in startup mode, we’re still getting a handle on expected costs, speed to deployment, and other factors that will help us determine the ideal scale we need to reach across the different service offerings (solar, geothermal, efficiency services, etc.). Feasibility modeling conducted by a consultant in 2024 suggested a clear path to financial self-sustainability.” Financial self-sustainability of the A2SEU does not ensure that “power is available and affordable to everyone in Ann Arbor.”

According to the A2SEU Exec. Dir., no one knows how many Ann Arbor residents will opt in to the A2SEU or if A2SEU customers will “be charged significantly less on average” than what DTE charges, or whether the A2SEU will provide significantly better service than DTE. Unlike the A2SEU, A2P2 would operate the City’s power grid in place of DTE.

The Citizens Utility Board of Michigan’s 2025 Utility Performance Report provides an indepth look at just how poorly DTE and Consumers Electric serve their millions of customers: “Notably, Michigan had the 2nd-highest number of outage minutes per customer of any state. This result was driven largely by outage duration rather than outage frequency: Michigan’s outage frequency was slightly above the U.S. average, but the state had the longest outages in the nation. The state’s poor outage statistics were driven primarily by DTE and Consumers Energy, which had some of the highest outage durations among all investor-owned utilities in the nation. A recurring theme across different versions of this report, reinforced by the latest data, is that Michigan utilities have continuously failed to improve their basic reliability performance….Michigan utilities also continue to charge relatively high electric rates. In particular, Michigan’s residential rates are higher than those in all but 10 states and higher than residential rates in any other Midwestern state.”

There are no guarantees that Ann Arbor’s SEU or A2P2 will do better than DTE with respect to poor outage statistics, and no financial models have been provided to the public that show the A2SEU or A2P2 will charge significantly cheaper electric rates.

Nonetheless, on April 24, 2026, in a post to the City of Ann Arbor’s Facebook page, the claim is made that, “the Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility is bringing clean, reliable and affordable energy to city residents and businesses.” In her April 16, 2026 email, Shoshanna Lenski said 1,300 individuals and a total of six businesses had expressed interest in participating in the SEU—none of them have signed up or received any electric services. A2P2 is making similar claims.

If Ann Arbor’s water utility, whose rates are set by City Council is any example, electric customers should expect rate hikes that surpass those awarded to DTE. Beginning in 2018, Ann Arbor City Council agreed to automatically raise water rates annually by 6 percent and sewage rates by 7 percent. Between 2018 and 2025, water rates increased by a total of 42 percent and sewage rates went up a total of 49 percent. City Council would be free to impose the same automatic rate increases on customers of its electric utility. From 2018 to early 2026, the cumulative increase in DTE Energy’s residential electricity rates is approximately 25.2 percent. This figure represents the compounded effect of multiple rate cases approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) during this period. 

The next campaign finance statements from A2P2 and Ann Arbor Responsible Energy Coalition are due July 27, 2026.