How Consumers Energy's $43 Million Dark Money Operation Reaches Lansing City Hall

LANSING, Mich. -- Between 2014 and 2017, Consumers Energy funneled $43.5 million into a single anonymous nonprofit called Citizens for Energizing Michigan's Economy (CEME, EIN 46-4355362). In 2022, CEME gave $200,000 to an organization whose legal agent is the same attorney who manages a network of anonymous political nonprofits, a sitting judge's former infrastructure, and the personal holding company of Lansing's most connected political consultant.

The connection, documented on IRS tax filings and Michigan corporate records, links Michigan's largest electric utility to the political network that shapes who holds power in Lansing and how that power is exercised.

What Is a 501(c)(4) and Why Does It Matter Here?

A 501(c)(4) is an IRS designation for a "social welfare" nonprofit. In practice, these organizations are the primary vehicle for anonymous political spending in American politics. They have three features that make them attractive for political operatives:

1. No donor disclosure. Unlike PACs or campaign committees, 501(c)(4) organizations are not required to publicly report who gives them money. Donors remain anonymous.
2. Unlimited corporate money. Corporations can give unlimited amounts. There are no contribution limits.
3. Political spending is allowed up to approximately 40% of the organization's budget, including TV ads, mailers, and polling.

In Michigan, 501(c)(4)s have an additional advantage that does not exist at the federal level: state law permits coordination between these anonymous nonprofits and candidates in state and local elections. A 501(c)(4) funded by anonymous corporate money can legally coordinate its messaging, strategy, and spending with a Lansing mayoral campaign or a city council candidate.

Reid Felsing, the attorney at the center of this network who is now a sitting judge on the Eaton County 56A District Court (appointed by Governor Whitmer, effective January 6, 2025), explained exactly how this works on a 2019 podcast produced by Grassroots Midwest, the consulting firm at the center of the Lansing network:

"The beauty of the C4 is the anonymity of money coming in. There's plausible deniability... all you know is the name of the C4 and the name of the directors."

Reid Felsing, TicketSplitters Episode 10, May 29, 2019

"That's the key thing of the C4 is getting that corporate dollars and especially if the corporation wants to give money and not have people or not get backlash from people that aren't exactly on board with that particular issue, that's a double win for them. They can get the money into that issue and they don't face the business consequences of it."

Reid Felsing, same episode

Adrian Hemond, CEO of Grassroots Midwest, endorsed Felsing's services on the same episode: "We use Reed for some of this type of work on behalf of our clients. And he does a really stellar job with it."

Eighteen months after this podcast aired, Felsing organized Hemond's personal holding company. That holding company is now managed by the same attorney who manages Felsing's network of anonymous nonprofits. The same network that receives money from Michigan's largest utility.

The Money Trail: Consumers Energy to Lansing

Step 1: Consumers Energy to CEME ($43.5 Million)

Consumers Energy is Michigan's largest electric utility, a subsidiary of CMS Energy Corporation. It serves 1.8 million electric customers and 1.7 million natural gas customers across Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

Between 2014 and 2017, Consumers Energy gave $43.5 million to Citizens for Energizing Michigan's Economy (CEME), a 501(c)(4) run by Howard J. Edelson, a former Consumers Energy lobbyist, at 2145 Commons Parkway, Okemos, Michigan. CEME used this money to run political attack ads, fund lobbying ($1.4 million in 2022 alone), and make grants to other anonymous nonprofits. None of this spending disclosed that the money came from a utility company funded by ratepayers.

In 2019, Consumers Energy agreed to stop making dark money donations for two years as part of a Michigan Public Service Commission rate settlement. But CEME retained $12.6 million in assets as of the end of 2022 and continued spending $4.5 million that year alone.

Step 2: CEME to the Felsing Network ($200,000)

CEME's 2022 IRS 990 (Schedule I, "Grants to Domestic Organizations") itemizes four grants totaling $450,000. The largest: $200,000 to Citizens for a Better Michigan (EIN 87-3528832), described as a "Social Welfare Contribution."

Citizens for a Better Michigan is not an independent organization. According to Michigan LARA corporate records (Entity 802764120):

• It was formed November 22, 2021, one year before receiving the $200,000 grant.
• Its resident agent is Jack Rucker.
• Its address on the IRS filing is 105 West Hillsdale Street, Lansing, Michigan. That is Reid Felsing's personal home address.

Jack Rucker is a 2022 law school graduate who inherited Felsing's law practice when Felsing was appointed to the bench. Rucker manages the same portfolio of organizations Felsing built: at least eight 501(c)(4) nonprofits and PACs operating from 428 W Lenawee Street in Lansing. All share a phone number (517-885-2000), an accountant (Riverside Accounting Inc, Grand Ledge, Michigan), and a rotating officer pattern with the same three names.

Among the entities Rucker manages: Adrian Hemond Holding LLC (LARA 802559806), the personal holding company of the CEO of Grassroots Midwest. Felsing organized that holding company on November 20, 2020. It was originally registered at Felsing's home address before being transferred to Rucker's office.

The other three CEME grants went to:

• Great Lakes Jobs Alliance (EIN 82-4600138, $100,000). Now dissolved. Registered at 106 W Allegan Street Suite 200, Lansing (the Hollister Building, one block from the Capitol). Agent: Ellen Kletzka, a political operative who also served as treasurer of Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (MCFR), a separate dark money group that spent over $1 million on TV ads in 2018 state Senate races. MCFR itself gave $250,000 to Great Lakes Jobs Alliance, meaning the entity received dark money from two different sources.
• Jobs for Michigan Council (EIN 82-4429022, $100,000). Now dissolved. Same address: 106 W Allegan Suite 200. Agent: Paul Cordes, the former Michigan Republican Party Chief of Staff.
• Building a Better Economy (EIN 83-3939983, $50,000). Active. PO Box 14097, Lansing.

Step 3: The Felsing Network to Grassroots Midwest

The Felsing network connects to Lansing's most influential political consulting firm through five documented links:

1. Personal relationship. Hemond was Felsing's instructor at Saginaw Valley State University, predating both men's professional careers.
2. Professional relationship. Hemond confirmed on the 2019 podcast that Grassroots Midwest uses Felsing for "this type of work" on behalf of clients.
3. Corporate integration. Felsing organized Hemond's personal holding company (November 2020). The holding company is now managed by the same attorney (Rucker) who manages the entity that received the $200,000 Consumers Energy grant.
4. Super PAC operation. In October 2022, Grassroots Midwest created a federal Super PAC called "The Moderate Michigan Voice" (FEC C00825901) and sole-funded it with $205,000. Reid Felsing signed the FEC financial filing as treasurer and was paid $5,000 for "Treasurer service." The PAC spent $198,599 on cable television ads through Effectv (Comcast's advertising platform) one week before the November 2022 midterm election, then terminated four months later. All spending was classified as "Non-Federal" on the FEC filing, avoiding standard Super PAC disclosure requirements. No filing was made with the Michigan Secretary of State despite the non-federal classification. The FCC political file for the Comcast cable system serving Lansing contains a folder labeled "MODERATE MICHIGAN VOICE" under Local, Lansing, Unknown, but the folder is empty.
5. Continuing ties. As of March 17, 2026, Felsing remains the named resident agent for Michigan Alliance for Progress (LARA 803202489), a 501(c)(4) at 428 W Lenawee Street, 14 months after taking the judicial bench.

Step 4: Grassroots Midwest to Lansing Politics

Grassroots Midwest Inc. (LARA 800767416) is a Lansing-based political consulting firm that has received $3.24 million from 77 political committees at the federal, state, and local levels. It simultaneously advises:

• Mayor Andy Schor: $229,000 from three Schor entities (campaign committee $188,000, 527 fund $32,000, leadership PAC $9,000) per Ingham County campaign finance portal, MiTN, and IRS Form 8872 filings. Schor's campaign spending on Grassroots Midwest is the second-largest candidate payment in the firm's history and 23 times more than any other local candidate.
• UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 333 PAC (MiTN Committee 507652): $203,000. The pipe trades union is also the mayor's single largest lifetime funder ($111,800 over 20 years) and funds 6 of 8 council members.
• LRC-PAC, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce's political action committee (MiTN Committee 000516): $32,000, including $8,950 specifically described as "Lansing City Council General Election" spending. The Chamber's VP of Public Affairs, Steve Japinga, confirmed on the firm's podcast that Grassroots Midwest helps the Chamber recruit and elect council candidates: "I know your team works really well at getting down into the weeds of these local areas and really identifying who those good candidates would be... I know you guys are helping us out on that and we're very engaged."

Grassroots Midwest's CEO, Adrian Hemond, appears regularly on PBS (WKAR), Bridge Michigan, Michigan Advance, and WDET as a political analyst and commentator. He does not disclose that he simultaneously consults for the mayor, the union, and the Chamber PAC.

Seven of eight current Lansing City Council members receive funding from either the Chamber PAC, Local 333, or both:

Sources: Ingham County EasyVote portal, MiTN. Chamber PAC: 6 of 8 funded. Local 333: 6 of 8 funded. Either source: 7 of 8. Ryan Kost is the only council member with zero funding from either source.

The Lobbying Connection

There is one more link. GCSI (Governmental Consultant Services Inc.) is Michigan's top-ranked multi-client lobbying firm: 120+ clients, $1.4 million per year in lobbying expenditures, voted "most effective" for 20 consecutive years. GCSI represents Consumers Energy as a lobbying client.

Adrian Hemond worked at GCSI from 2007 to 2012 as an associate lobbyist. He left to become Chief of Staff to House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, then founded Grassroots Midwest in 2013.

GCSI's CEO, Mike Hawks, is married to Orlene Hawks, who served as Director of LARA (Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs) from 2019 to 2023 under Governor Whitmer. LARA is the state agency that oversees all Michigan corporate filings, including the formation, annual reports, and agent changes for every entity in the Felsing network.

GCSI also donated $2,500 as a corporate entity to the Schor Lansing Fund (the mayor's 527 political organization) across four donations from 2020 to 2024.

The Loop

Utility ratepayers pay their electric bills. Consumers Energy collects the revenue. $43.5 million goes to an anonymous nonprofit run by a former Consumers lobbyist. That nonprofit gives $200,000 to another anonymous nonprofit whose legal agent manages the personal holding company of the CEO of the consulting firm that simultaneously advises the mayor, the union, and the Chamber PAC that together fund 7 of 8 city council members. Those council members vote on zoning, development, contracts, and policy that affects every resident of the city.

Meanwhile, the lobbying firm that represents Consumers Energy trained the consulting firm's CEO for five years. The lobbying firm's CEO's wife ran the state agency that oversees the corporate filings for the entire anonymous nonprofit network. The attorney who built the network and organized the consulting firm CEO's holding company was appointed to the bench by the governor, and he remains listed as the legal agent for one of his political nonprofits 14 months after becoming a judge.

Every connection described in this article is documented in public records: IRS 990 filings, FEC filings, Michigan LARA corporate records, MiTN campaign finance data, Ingham County campaign finance records, and a podcast transcript. The records are spread across five different databases maintained by four different agencies. Nobody had assembled them into one picture until now.

Sources