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When the Michigan House returns to session today, one of the items on the agenda is a package of three new bills that would increase Michigan’s energy independence from other states. State Representative Scott Dianda wrote one of the bills which would relax regulations on customer energy generation while ensuring safety and reliability of power distribution. He says the bill would also would fairly compensate anyone who buys and sells self-generated energy on utility company grids.
Dianda says he believes energy production through wood biomass is the key to the U.P.’s future, since it’s both plentiful in the area and renewable. His bill, and the other two bills in the energy package, will start out in the House Energy & Technology Committee.
A recent study found that continued growth of renewable energy in Michigan would add more than $6 billion to the state’s economy by 2020, creating more than 40,000 new jobs.
