The Michigan Public Service Commission on Friday approved a $92 million rate increase for Consumers Energy Co. electric customers.
The new rate will result in a $1.53 monthly increase for the typical residential customer consuming 500 kilowatt hours, effective on or after March 15. The Jackson-based utility serves 1.9 million retail customers in lower Michigan.
Consumers Energy said it sought the increase to cover investments in generation and distribution assets, safety and legal compliance and enhanced technology, as well as rising operations and maintenance expenses, and higher financing costs, according to the MPSC.
In an email Friday, Brian Wheeler, spokesperson for Consumers Energy, said the order Friday was a first step for the utility’s Reliability Roadmap, its blueprint for fewer and shorter outages.
“The Company’s investments to add technology, bury power lines and clear trees, are essential to improving reliability for customers,” he wrote. “We’re acutely aware of the impacts on customers’ bills, which is why we’re balancing these upgrades by trimming costs and working more than ever to connect customers with cost-saving programs. Consumers Energy will continue to advocate to build a smarter and stronger power grid that serves Michigan reliably 24/7.”
The approved rate increase is 57.4% lower than Consumers Energy’s first request in May 2023. The utility initially sought a rate increase of $216 million, which it later reduced to $170.8 million.
Attorney General Dana Nessel noted Friday that she intervened in the case, resulting in the smaller rate increase. She had argued that Consumers Energy’s request was excessive and the utility had only faced a $56.95 million revenue shortfall.
“Our corporate utility providers are required to request permission from the Michigan Public Service Commission to increase the rates they charge, and this gives my office an opportunity to scrutinize their often-exaggerated claims and hold them publicly accountable to the people’s needs for reliable and affordable home energy,” Nessel said in a statement. “Today the Commission saw fit to slash Consumers Energy’s requested rate hike by more than half.”
In a statement Friday, the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan said that the MPSC accepted the arguments from it and other intervening groups that opposed much of the utility’s spending requests.
For example, CUB took issue with Consumers Energy for a seven-year tree trimming cycle, saying that more frequent tree trimming would shorten the utility’s outages and improve reliability.
“The MPSC rebuked Consumers Energy on its proposed rate hike that would have made electric bills even more unaffordable when Consumers Energy customers already pay some of the highest rates in the country,” Amy Bandyk, executive director of CUB, said in a statement. “Next, regulators need to be skeptical of Consumers Energy’s plans to spend billions on the distribution grid without showing that it is pursuing the most cost-effective strategies.”
cwilliams@detroitnews.com
@CWilliams_DN
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