Michigan utility aided sabotage of Covid lockdown policies, documents reveal

Newly released court documents show power utility DTE Energy knowingly contributed $100,000 to a dark money non-profit that helped sabotage Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Covid lockdown policies.

The documents contradict previous DTE statements that claimed the utility was not involved with the donation.

In January 2023, the Guardian detailed how a DTE-affiliated dark money non-profit financially contributed to the successful repeal of Whitmer’s emergency order powers. The campaign, coordinated with state Republican leadership, helped bring about an end to Covid lockdowns and policies.

Peter Ternes, then a DTE Energy spokesperson, twice emphatically denied the company’s involvement. In late 2022, he told a Guardian reporter, “DTE unequivocally is not financially supporting” the campaign to kill Whitmer’s emergency order powers, led by Unlock Michigan, and made an almost identical statement when asked in 2020.

New emails, however, show a DTE employee coordinated the $100,000 contribution. The dark money non-profit and Unlock Michigan leadership referred to it as a “DTE donation” and “$100,000 DTE check”, emails show.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/michigan-covid-lockdown-dte-energy

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