Benson’s Hypocrisy of Full Display with Energy Plan

Lansing, MI – Michigan Secretary of State and the Democrat Party’s frontrunner for governor, Jocelyn Benson, has unveiled her affordable energy plan, which includes limiting donations from Michigan’s major utility companies. The irony, of course, is that Benson had already accepted thousands of dollars in donations from those companies while running for Secretary of State.

Between 2010 and 2021, Benson’s campaign was given more than $10,000 for political action committees affiliated with Michigan’s investor-owned utilities. As governor, she would be responsible for appointing the members of the Michigan Public Services Commission (MPSC), who determine rate increases for Michiganders. 

Benson was more than happy to accept donations from these companies when it was politically convenient, but now that Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s MPSC appointees have hiked rates by more than a billion dollars over the last five years, Benson is making a poor attempt to look impartial.

“This is too little, too late from Jocelyn Benson,” said Gabe Butzke, a spokesperson for Michigan Forward Network. “She’s trying to have her cake and eat it too. Accepting thousands of dollars from these companies while simultaneously rolling out a plan to ban their donations.”