LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – State Rep. Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River) is criticizing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after her final State of the State address, calling her tenure a period of “lost opportunities” for the Upper Peninsula.
Prestin said the governor once again failed to address what he described as serious challenges facing communities north of the Mackinac Bridge.
In a statement released Wednesday night, Prestin took aim at Whitmer’s clean energy policies, arguing they are increasing costs and putting regional energy reliability at risk.
“The Governor continues to celebrate her green energy mandates that are already driving energy prices up and threaten to shut down the region’s natural gas power plants decades early,” Prestin said. “Should those plants close, energy bills will continue to go up exponentially, imposing ongoing crushing costs that no family or business will be able to absorb.”
Prestin said rising energy costs are putting pressure on the U.P.’s mining industry and could push families and businesses to consider relocating.
He also criticized Whitmer’s opposition to the proposed tunnel project for Line 5, the oil and natural gas pipeline that runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Whitmer has sought to shut down the existing pipeline, citing environmental concerns, while supporters argue it is critical to the energy supply in northern Michigan and the U.P.
“The Governor also did not end her lawfare against U.P. interests, like her campaign to block the Line 5 tunnel,” Prestin said. “She knows that Line 5 provides our homes with essential propane, and if she had not fought it every step of the way, the tunnel would have been completed two years ago and provided hundreds of workers with good-paying jobs.
In addition to energy policy, Prestin criticized what he called regulatory overreach, arguing that state permitting and rules increase housing costs and burden property owners.
He also accused the administration of allowing the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to overstep its authority, claiming the agency has trespassed on private property and taken actions that harm farmers and state-managed wildlife areas.
Whitmer, in her address, highlighted investments in infrastructure, education, and economic development across Michigan, while outlining priorities focused on literacy, housing, and health care costs.
Prestin said Upper Peninsula residents will ultimately judge the governor’s record differently.
“The Upper Peninsula will remember the Governor’s tenure as eight failed years of lost opportunities, and a legacy of energy poverty and economic destruction,” he said. “We’re in the fight of our life in the U.P., but we also have the opportunity to start writing the next chapter.”
