“Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Permission to speak to the package?

Thank you.

I rise today in support of Project Lighthouse, House Bills 5710 and 5711.

Two years ago, I stood on this floor and warned what would happen if Michigan adopted the energy mandates this legislation replaces. I said they would make our grid less reliable. I said they would make electricity more expensive. And I said that by the time this Legislature was forced to come back and fix it, Michigan families would already be paying the price.

I take no satisfaction in being right.

The people opening those utility bills did not need politicians to win an argument. They needed us to get the policy right.

Today, we get it right.

House Bills 5710 and 5711 cement reliability and affordability as the governing principles of Michigan energy policy. They replace politically constructed mandates with a framework grounded in the realities of the grid we actually have. And they end the practice of forcing ratepayers to subsidize outside groups arguing against them in commission proceedings.

It determines whether factories stay open. Whether small businesses can grow. Whether families can afford to heat their homes in February. Whether the lights come on when people flip the switch.

Energy is the foundation everything else stands on. And for the last two years, that foundation has been cracking.

Today, we have the opportunity to repair it.

There is a reason this package is called Project Lighthouse. In rough water, a lighthouse doesn’t control the storm. It simply shows the way through it.

Michigan has been in rough water long enough.

Today, we light the way home.

I urge a yes vote on House Bills 5710 and 5711.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.”