CMS Energy Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries, (collectively, the "Corporation"), consider it an imperative to fulfill our commitment to our Triple Bottom Line – People, Planet and Profit, through regular, constructive, and transparent engagement with government officials, policymakers and stakeholder groups. We recognize the policy decisions of lawmakers and regulators at federal, state and local levels significantly impact our business environment, especially because our investor-owned utility business is highly regulated.

Our advocacy activities aim to fulfill our primary corporate goals -- to meet our customers’ energy needs and help our communities thrive by providing safe, reliable and competitively priced energy-related services. We conduct corporate political engagement without regard to individual views at any level across the organization. In participating in the political process, the Corporation upholds its core values and adheres to the highest standards of ethical conduct.

Lobbying and Advocacy

We engage with government and elected officials, regulators, and environmental, community and business leaders, among others, to inform, educate and collaborate. These engagements help us build trust, form lasting partnerships and find mutually beneficial solutions. Through these interactions, we ensure they are informed of the impact of pending decisions on our Corporation, customers, employees and shareholders. We follow strict federal, state and local lobby registration and disclosure laws, which provide transparency regarding the Corporation’s lobby expenditures.

We have policies and procedures in place that govern our interactions and regularly consult counsel to confirm compliance with applicable laws, regulations and corporate policy. This process is also audited periodically to ensure compliance with laws, regulations and best industry practices.

CMS Energy and its subsidiaries file all required state and federal lobbying and contribution reports as required.

View the federal reports or search disclosures by state in the table below.

Corporate Political Contributions, Governance and Disclosure

The Corporation may contribute to political parties, ballot measures and other organizations in the U.S., as permitted by law, only from corporate shareholder funds and not reflected in customer rates. The Corporation does not make contributions to federal Super PACS, nor do we contribute directly to, or make independent expenditures to expressly advocate for, the election or defeat of a federal, state or local candidate.

As part of their oversight functions, the Boards of Directors of CMS Energy Corporation and Consumers Energy Company (collectively, the Board) oversee our political engagement policies, programs and practices. The Governance, Sustainability and Public Responsibility Committee (the Committee), which is comprised of independent directors of the Board, is responsible for advising and assisting the Board with respect to our political engagement.

The Committee’s key functions are to:

• Review the Corporation’s strategies to help develop public policy supporting the business.
• Review, revise and approve the Corporation’s political and charitable contributions policy.
• Review and approve political and charitable contributions made on the Corporation’s behalf, including payments to tax-exempt organizations.
• Report to the Board and recommend the Board’s approval of political contributions as required.

Annually, the senior vice president for governmental, regulatory and public affairs (SVP GRPA) reports to the Committee the prior year’s expenditures for political purposes.

Governmental Affairs initiates all political contribution recommendations, which are then reviewed by the legal department before being sent for review and approval by the general counsel, the SVP GRPA, and the vice president and corporate secretary. Any contribution of $2,500 or less requires no further approval. A contribution greater than $2,500 and up to $10,000 requires additional approval by the president and chief executive officer. Contribution requests over $10,000 require prior approval of the president and chief executive officer and the Board.

To promote transparency, the Corporation goes above what is required by law and annually publishes on its website the previous year’s political contributions at all levels of government in March of each year as noted below:

• Expenditures made to influence the outcome of ballot initiatives.
• Direct corporate contributions to an entity organized under Sections 527 and Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code when annual contributions exceed $25,000.
• Non-deductible portions of trade association and other organization dues when annual mandatory membership dues exceed $25,000.

The Corporation will disclose such contributions and payments yearly. Beginning in 2023, we intend to begin publishing semiannual contribution reports each March and September.

Trade Associations and Business Memberships

Our Corporation holds memberships in industry, trade and business associations representing the energy/utility industry, the business community, our customers and communities. The Corporation and our customers enjoy myriad benefits from engaging with these associations, including benchmarking and best practices among peer utilities and Fortune 500 companies. Topics include reliability and storm response, clean energy technology integration, human resources, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee and public safety measures and cyber and physical security. Our engagement with these stakeholders also provides perspective and views on public policy issues that affect our Corporation, customers, employees and shareholders. We believe participation in associations and stakeholder groups expands the Corporation’s perspective on public policy issues. It also allows us the ability to build coalitions in support of policies toward our Triple Bottom Line – People, Planet and Profit.

The Corporation does not agree with all positions of every industry, trade or policy organization with which it participates. We further recognize positions taken by such organizations result from compromises among their members. The Corporation bases our involvement and support on the value of engaging in dialogue to hear varying perspectives as well as build consensus around our priorities and find areas of mutual agreement. Our participation provides us a voice at the table and an opportunity to influence positions on public policy that align with the long-term objectives of our Corporation. If the organization is working against the Corporation’s values and objectives, the Corporation could abstain or withdraw membership.

We make reasonable efforts to track membership dues made to trade associations, chambers of commerce and other tax-exempt organizations. We disclose the non-deductible portion of trade association and other organization dues yearly when annual mandatory membership dues to an organization exceed $25,000. The non-deductible portion as determined by the organization is generally the percentage of dues that is defined under Section 162(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code as dollars used for lobbying a legislative body.

Please see the “Contributions Reports” section above for the lobby portion of trade association and other organizations’ membership dues.

Employee Political Activity and CMS Energy Employees for Better Government

Our Corporation maintains separate segregated funds and corporate political action committees (PACs), which are registered with the Federal Election Commission, and a state PAC, which is registered in Michigan. CMS Energy Corporation Employees for Better Government (EBG) is nonprofit, nonpartisan and governed by an employee-run steering committee that is independent of the Corporation’s officers and Board. Participation in the PAC is voluntary and gives employees a voice in the political process. Coercing or pressuring any employee to participate in or contribute to EBG is strictly prohibited.

The PAC bylaws can be found here: CMS Energy’s Employees for Better Government bylaws.

The elected members of EBG’s Steering Committee review contribution requests and allocate qualified employee contributions to political and campaign committees and to specific candidate campaigns. Those decisions are based on the following considerations:

• Representation of a state or district where our Corporation has service territory, key facilities or a large concentration of employees.
• Voting record and announced positions on issues important to the Corporation, including cultural values.
• Leadership, demonstrated on key committees of importance to the Corporation, including potential for legislative leadership.
• Pragmatic and collaborative engagement with the Corporation and in our communities; displays civility and good judgement.

All EBG PAC contributions accepted or made by our federal or state PACs are reported, consistent with applicable requirements, to the federal election commission and Michigan Secretary of State can be found here:

Michigan Campaign Finance Searchable Database
Federal Elections Commission Searchable Database

The communities we serve are the backbone of our business. We are committed to help them succeed - not just with energy-related services, but also with personal and corporate commitments. Each day, our co-workers offer their time, talents and finances to support the places they live and work.

The Corporation encourages employees to take part in the political process consistent with good citizenship, including exercising their right to vote. However, employees must comply with all applicable legal, ethical and corporate requirements. The Corporation prohibits the use of company time and resources for political efforts like helping elect a public official. Such efforts must be made on a purely personal basis and do not reflect the position or endorsement of the Corporation or the Employees for Better Government PAC.

Employees who become a candidate, receive an appointment and/or win public office are required to recuse themselves from conflicts of interest.

Additional requirements can be found in the Employee Code of Conduct.