While he’s not taking PAC contributions and doesn’t expect the same types of corporate donors, Hoogendyk told POLITICO he aims to raise $100,000 by the next filing deadline in mid-April.

“No energy-related organization in their right mind would support the challenger to the energy committee chairman, I understand that,” he said.

Hoogendyk said he doesn’t see a problem with Upton raising funds from out-of-state donors, but he plans to challenge Upton over his corporate contributions.

“When the lobbying groups give money to a candidate, they expect something in return. They thank you for the votes they’ve already gotten, but they want more of the same. That’s why they’ve put Fred where he is,” Hoogendyk said.

Upton campaign manager Joe Wicks said the lawmaker is building his war chest in part to defend against outside groups like the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council. The environmentalists have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in southwest Michigan, he said, “relentlessly attacking Fred because his pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda is a threat to their endless regulatory assault.

“Consequently, we must be prepared to use all resources available to combat this vicious brigade of misinformation,” Wicks said.

Wicks also noted Upton’s “great pride in his local support,” including plans next month for one of his largest gatherings of the year, a $59-per-couple fundraiser.

Upton’s not assuming anything against Hoogendyk, either. After all, Upton won the seat in 1986 after first defeating incumbent Rep. Mark Siljander in a Republican primary. Already, Upton’s sent out mailers attacking Hoogendyk for his voting record in the state Legislature.

Chesapeake Energy spokesman Michael Kehs said the natural gas giant’s $20,000 contributions for the 2012 cycle — beyond the $9,800 given in 2010 or $5,000 in 2008 — stem in part from Upton’s primary challenge.

“We don’t believe in everything he professes, but we think he’s doing an excellent job trying to balance the broad interests of our nation’s energy policies,” Kehs said. “We think that’s certainly a laudable goal.”

Kehs also gave another reason for backing Upton: Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon’s wife, Katie, is the chairman’s first cousin. “When a family member is a member of Congress, we tend to give them our full support,” Kehs said.

Electric utilities have been Upton’s largest industry backer since the 2008 election cycle, when he served as ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on energy and environmental issues. But the totals have been on the rise. Already in the 2012 election cycle, Upton’s raised nearly $248,000 from power company CEOs, their employees and PACs, not too far from the $260,000 raised from the same sector in the 2010 election season.

“He’s got very deep and long-standing friendships with our companies and with our CEOs,” said Brian Wolff, a senior vice president at the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group that’s hosting fundraisers on Wednesday in Washington for both Upton and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). The trade group also held similar CEO-attended events for the two lawmakers last year, as well as for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

Wolff said Upton’s donations from the power sector started going up around 2009 when Tony Earley, then CEO of DTE, Upton’s home state power company, and a close friend of the lawmaker, was elected chairman of the industry trade group.

Tom Nickels, senior vice president at the American Hospital Association, cited the primary as a reason behind the group’s members giving $5,500 thus far in the 2012 cycle. “Rep. Upton is facing a primary this year,” he said, “And they wanted to be as helpful as possible.”