Overview:
- Consumers Energy files a new rate increase request just seven days after receiving approval for a $276 million hike.
- Attorney General Dana Nessel calls the rapid filing proof that Michigan's utility system is "truly broken."
- The previous rate case resulted in an 8.9% increase for Consumers Energy's 1.9 million electric customers statewide.
By KYLE DAVIDSON
Michigan Advance
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is continuing to question Michigan’s energy companies, as Consumers Energy, one of the largest utilities in the state, seeks yet another increase to its electrical rates.
The Department of Attorney General released a statement on Monday, reaffirming Nessel’s commitment to intervening in all major rate cases before state energy regulators, slamming Consumers Energy for filing a new rate case within seven days of the Michigan Public Service Commission approving its last increase.
“The rate hike just approved by the MPSC hasn’t even taken effect yet, and Consumers Energy is already gearing up to reach back into the pockets of Michigan families,” Nessel said.
“Ratepayers don’t have a choice in who they buy their energy from, yet our utility companies still choose to make these relentless and unsustainable rate hike demands year after year. Announcing plans to file what we expect to be a new multi-hundred-million-dollar request just seven days after securing a nearly $280 million hike proves how truly broken this system has become.”
While Nessel pledged to scrutinize every penny of the Consumers Energy request, she said her office’s intervention is no longer enough to address continuous increases to residents’ energy prices, calling on the Legislature to come together and find a bipartisan solution.
Although the amount requested by Consumers Energy is not yet known, Nessel noted that its previous request sought a $436-million rate increase and a $24.3-million surcharge, which would have increased residential energy rates by 13%. However, the Public Service Commission approved a $276-million increase, representing an 8.9% increase for Consumers’ electric customers.
The company sells electricity to 1.9 million residents across the state.
Nessel’s call for action follows years of scrutiny into Michigan’s utility companies amid concerns of high rates and poor reliability.
In her statement, Nessel noted that recent requests from Consumers and DTE Energy – which supplies electricity to customers across southeast Michigan – have included private jet travel for executives and other unsupported expenditures to justify their rate increases.
Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) in January put forth Senate Bill 768, requiring utilities to file a rate plan that would cover three years, rather than one, allowing customers to hold the same rate over multiple years.
Michigan House Republicans are also pushing forward on efforts to roll back past rate increases while eliminating the state’s clean energy laws, requiring energy companies to meet a 100% clean energy standard by 2040. Rep. Steve Frisbie (R-Battle Creek), one of the lawmakers working on the plan, argued that the energy standard, which includes benchmark goals of 50% clean energy by 2030 and 60% by 2035, is driving the increase in energy costs.
However, a report from Lazard, a multinational asset management firm based in the U.S., found that unsubsidized wind and solar energy remain the most cost-effective forms of new-build energy. Another report from the International Renewable Energy Agency found that around 91% of utility-scale renewable energy projects were more cost-effective than fossil fuel alternatives.
Michigan House Democrats previously put forth their own regulations on energy utilities, calling for a ratepayer bill of rights focused on outage compensation, energy rates, ensuring ratepayer funds are not used on CEO bonuses or other luxuries, among other changes.
In a statement to Michigan Advance, Katie Carey, Consumers Energy’s director of media relations, said that beginning the rate case process now is essential for the company to secure approval of its 2027 reliability action plan, to make “timely, thoughtful investments in 2027 to maintain safe, reliable, and cost‑effective service.”
“Consumers Energy remains focused on helping our friends and neighbors by offering money‑saving programs and connecting customers with assistance that can help manage bills,” Carey said in an email. “To help keep energy bills more predictable and manageable, Consumers Energy emphasizes proactive system maintenance and reliability investments and files regular rate requests rather than waiting several years, when increases can be harder for customers.”
According to Consumers Energy’s filing announcement, the company will file its rate request on or after June 2.
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.
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