--- title: "CMS Energy earns $1.44 adjusted while funding the fight against Michigan's utility money ban" description: "Michigan votes on November 3 on Proposition 2, which would bar utilities from giving to the officials and commissioners who set their rates. CMS Energy, which needs more than $24 billion of supply-plan spending approved, put $50,000 into defeating it the same quarter it wrote off $456 million." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Power" published: 2026-10-27T16:18:01.201Z modified: 2026-10-27T16:18:01.201Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/cms-energy-earns-1-44-adjusted-while-funding-the-fight-against-michigan-s-utility-money-ban language: en keywords: "CMS Energy, Utilities, Michigan, Earnings, Political Spending, Regulation" --- # CMS Energy earns $1.44 adjusted while funding the fight against Michigan's utility money ban > Michigan votes on November 3 on Proposition 2, which would bar utilities from giving to the officials and commissioners who set their rates. CMS Energy, which needs more than $24 billion of supply-plan spending approved, put $50,000 into defeating it the same quarter it wrote off $456 million. ## A $50,000 check, a month out from the vote On September 30, a month before the election, [CMS Energy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/cms-energy), the parent of Michigan utility Consumers Energy, wrote a $50,000 check to Protect MI Free Speech, the committee campaigning against Proposition 2 in the November 3 vote [1]. Michigan Energy First, a dark-money group tied to rival [DTE Energy](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/dte-energy) that does not disclose its donors, had matched the sum on August 31; [utility-linked giving to the committee now totals $215,000](https://energyandpolicy.org/dte-consumers-oppose-political-spending-ban/) [1]. The check is small because the fight is lopsided: Protect MI Free Speech has [raised about $851,000 from all sources, against more than $8.7 million](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/high-power-bills-blackouts-land-michigan-utilities-on-the-ballot/ar-AA2g9Nes) for Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, the coalition behind the measure [2]. [Proposition 2 would bar regulated utilities and most large state contractors from political giving](https://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/news/local-news/2026/10/michigan-proposal-1-and-2-what-to-know-about-statewide-ballot-measures/) and force donor disclosure for pre-election issue ads, a utility-specific ban no other state has tried [3][2]. ## After the write-off, CMS is a regulated utility story This morning CMS [reported third-quarter GAAP earnings of $0.39 a share](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cms-energy-announces-third-quarter-results-reaffirms-2026-and-2027-adjusted-eps-guidance-302920059.html), against $0.92 a year earlier, after a $456 million impairment and restructuring at NorthStar Clean Energy, its non-utility arm, whose assets are now held for sale [4][5]. Adjusted earnings, which exclude the write-down, were $1.44 against $0.93, and the company reaffirmed 2026 guidance of $3.83 to $3.90 and 2027 guidance of $4.08 to $4.17 [4]. Shareholders barely felt it: $214 million of the quarter's losses landed on noncontrolling interests, and net income attributable to CMS held at $123 million, flat with the second quarter [4]. The equity case now rests on the regulated core. Consumers wants more than $24 billion of spending through 2030 on a 20-year supply plan of gas, solar, wind and storage [6], money recovered, with a return, from customer bills at rates the commission sets [7]. *Chart: **Net income attributable to CMS fell in Q2 2026 and held flat through the NorthStar write-down** Line chart of CMS Energy quarterly net income attributable to the company from Q3 2024 to Q3 2026, showing the drop in Q2 2026 and a flat Q3 2026 despite the NorthStar write-down* *Quarterly net income attributable to CMS Energy, in billions of US dollars, Q3 2024 to Q3 2026; Q3 2026 from the October 27 earnings release, earlier quarters from SEC filings. [4][8]* ## The regulator is on the ballot Michigan's utility rates are set by the Public Service Commission, a three-member board appointed by the governor, not elected [7]. Proposition 2 would stop utility officials and their families from donating to statewide officeholders and to commission members [3]. The money record behind the measure: the two utilities' political action committees have given more than $1.97 million to current state officials, a Detroit News poll last month put support for the ban above 71 percent, and Consumers spent over $250,000 in a failed August primary bid against a Republican incumbent, a vocal critic of the data centers behind Michigan's electricity-demand growth, [which we have tracked before](https://theinference.org/article/dte-energy-s-1-gigawatt-google-deal-set-michigan-s-data-center-template-more-deals-by-year-end) [1]. ## The defense, and what to watch Consumers spokesperson Katie Carey said the company follows all campaign finance laws and that the measure would "shift influence away from Michigan companies and toward wealthy national donors and special interests" [2]. Karley Abramson of the Citizens Research Council, which takes no position, expects a constitutional challenge and doubts the utility ban survives: because commissioners are appointed, a quid pro quo is hard to prove, and super PAC spending is carved out either way [7]. Business groups have promised to sue [3]. Watch the vote on November 3, then the lawsuits, then the rate cases: the $24 billion plan does not wait for any of them [3]. ## Takeaway The NorthStar write-off stayed mostly with noncontrolling interests and the regulated quarter was clean, but CMS's $24 billion supply plan now runs through a ballot that could ban the utility money behind Michigan politics. ## Sources 1. [Energy and Policy Institute, Michigan utility interests spend $215K to fight political spending ban, 26 October 2026](https://energyandpolicy.org/dte-consumers-oppose-political-spending-ban/) 2. [Grist via MSN, High power bills, blackouts land Michigan utilities on the ballot, 27 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/high-power-bills-blackouts-land-michigan-utilities-on-the-ballot/ar-AA2g9Nes) 3. [Bridge Michigan via Iron Mountain Daily News, Michigan Proposal 1 and 2: What to know about statewide ballot measures, 27 October 2026](https://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/news/local-news/2026/10/michigan-proposal-1-and-2-what-to-know-about-statewide-ballot-measures/) 4. [CMS Energy press release, CMS Energy Announces Third Quarter Results, Reaffirms 2026 and 2027 Adjusted EPS Guidance, 27 October 2026](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cms-energy-announces-third-quarter-results-reaffirms-2026-and-2027-adjusted-eps-guidance-302920059.html) 5. [SEC Form 8-K, CMS Energy Corporation, third-quarter results, 27 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/811156/000110465926118972/0001104659-26-118972-index.htm) 6. [Stocktwits via TradingView, GEV, D, CMS, AEP And PWR To Report Earnings This Week, 27 October 2026](https://es.tradingview.com/news/stocktwits:56b1ba49e094b:0-gev-d-cms-aep-and-pwr-to-report-earnings-this-week-a-look-at-what-investors-are-watching/) 7. [WLNS via WOOD TV/MSN, Will Proposal 2 get money out of politics? One researcher says 'not really', 26 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/will-proposal-2-get-money-out-of-politics-one-researcher-says-not-really/ar-AA2g7jtZ) 8. [CMS Energy, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 27 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000811156) --- CMS Energy earns $1.44 adjusted while funding the fight against Michigan's utility money ban — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/cms-energy-earns-1-44-adjusted-while-funding-the-fight-against-michigan-s-utility-money-ban