Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is stretching the limits of her emergency powers, just as she did during the COVID-19 panic. She declared a state emergency on April 2, suspending some state rules about what kind of gasoline may be sold, because prices reached $3.89 per gallon. State law gives governors the authority to unilaterally suspend rules or laws, among other actions, in case of an energy shortage. But Whitmer’s justification is based on high gas prices rather than a threat to Michigan’s energy supply.

Michigan’s energy emergency law says governors may take emergency action when there is “a condition of danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the citizens of this state due to an impending or present energy shortage.” An energy shortage is a “lack of adequate available energy resources in the state.”

The governor’s executive order declaring the emergency makes no mention of a threat to the supply of gasoline in Michigan; it only references relatively high gas prices. That is not the same thing as an energy shortage.

The governor appears to broadly interpret the law to grant herself extraordinary powers. She did the same in 2020 when she claimed that a now-repealed law gave her the power to unilaterally control every social interaction for however long she wanted.

If the current price of gas requires emergency action, the governor should explain why she has not taken this action before. Gas prices were higher than $3.89 per gallon for most of 2022, according to Gasbuddy.com and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The governor said in news release that she will “give families a break” on gas prices because she “can’t end a war overseas or undo bad policies at the federal level that led to higher gas prices.” She is right that she cannot do much about those policies, but that’s no excuse to play fast and loose with Michigan’s emergency power laws. Those should be reserved for genuine emergencies that endanger the public. The existence of higher-than-usual gas prices isn’t one of them.

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