If Thomas Friedman were in charge of Michigan, "drill baby drill" and fighting for gas-guzzlers would go the way of the dinosaur.

The bestselling author and New York Times columnist spoke Wednesday in Ypsilanti to an enthusiastic crowd of well over 1,000 at a meeting of the Washtenaw Economic Club. The session was sponsored by the University Research Corridor, the consortium of Michigan's three major research universities, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University.

The event also featured a renewable energy business exhibition by several companies involved in the nascent industry.

Michigan has an energy policy today - one that is working well. We don't need the changes that our two utilities would force on our state, which will immediately raise prices and lead to less reliability.

In 2000, Michigan introduced competition to our electric system. Since then our electric rates have gone from above the national average to below the national average, and we've seen the addition of 4,000 megawatts of new generation to the state. We've lowered prices and increased reliability. Businesses and schools, in particular, around the state have dropped their electric bills substantially.

December 21, 2007

The economic climate facing utilities in 2008 is mild. That's the general forecast from the two leading ratings agencies, which say that the troubles facing the housing and banking sectors are less problematic for power companies that are more defensive.