Moratorium NOW! Coalition Meets With DTE Energy

Moratorium NOW! Coalition Meets With DTE Energy Representatives to Propose a Freeze on Utility Shut-offs; Demonstration Will Take Place Friday at Headquarters

Two representatives of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-off met with DTE Energy executives on Thursday July 23 to press for a company-imposed halt to service terminations. This demand is being made in light of the worsening economic conditions facing the people of Detroit and the state of Michigan.

DTE representatives did not endorse a moratorium on shut-offs but provided information about existing policies and proposals for new programs aimed at consumers. However, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition maintained that a halt to shut-offs would provide relief to consumers as well as save lives.

Our thoughts and concerns go out to the Detroit family that has loss four love ones as a result of the corporate policies of DTE Energy. Mar'Keisha, DeMarco, DeMonte and Vaughn Reed are no longer with us because of the negligence of a leading profit-making company located downtown.

After DTE Energy officials acknowledged in the newspapers recently that they had received information that could have prevented the shut-off of services for the Vaughn Reed family, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition is demanding that the shut-off of utilities services be halted immediately in order to prevent the further deaths of people in the Detroit metropolitan area.

The Detroit area is experiencing unemployment and foreclosures rates at an astronomical level. Inside the city over 25% of working families have suffered job losses and the consequent economic problems that follow.

The growing unemployment figures, the rising rates of utility shut-offs, the lack of health care, home foreclosures and evictions clearly illustrate that Michigan is in an economic state of emergency. Therefore, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs is demanding that Gov. Granholm officially declare an economic state of emergency and immediately place a halt on all foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs throughout the state.

Banking institutions, the auto companies, and insurance firms have, all combined, received trillions of dollars in government handouts to maintain their operations. At the same time, millions of workers are losing their jobs, homes, apartments, health care and pensions every year in the United States.

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition is calling for the building of an effective movement to fight the worsening crisis facing working families in this region as well as throughout the country. Please join us in working toward this effort on Friday, July 24 at a demonstration and press conference outside the corporate offices of DTE Energy between 4:00-5:00 pm.

www.moratorium-mi.org