Overview:
- The Michigan Public Service Commission will host a community workshop Sept. 3 in Detroit to discuss energy affordability and gather resident feedback on assistance programs.
- Michigan recently expanded energy assistance eligibility to families earning up to 200% of federal poverty level, but MEAP funds are already committed this year, according to Wayne Metro.
- MPSC Chair Dan Scripps says one in four Americans choose between paying energy bills and buying food or medicine, highlighting the urgent need for improved affordability programs.
Michigan’s utility regulator is bringing the energy affordability conversation to Detroit.
The Michigan Public Service Commission is hosting an event in the city Sept. 3 to discuss the factors influencing utility costs; the agency’s affordability and assistance efforts; and hear from residents about affordability challenges.
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Why it matters
One in four U.S. residents may be forced to choose between paying their energy bills and buying food or medicine, making utility affordability a critical household budget issue.
Who's making public decisions
The Michigan Public Service Commission, led by Chair Dan Scripps, sets the state’s energy affordability policies and oversees utility assistance programs.
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What to watch for next
The Sept. 3 MPSC community workshop at Durfee Innovation Society will gather resident feedback that could shape future MPSC affordability actions and policies.
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The workshop-style event will include presentations on the MPSC’s affordability and assistance efforts. Small and large group discussions will allow residents to give feedback on the commission’s affordability efforts and help inform future actions.
“There’s a lot of data, a lot of statistics, but ultimately this is about people,” MPSC Chair Dan Scripps told Planet Detroit. “This is a chance for people to have a conversation about an issue that’s facing a lot of us.”
Discussion topics will include:
- The factors driving utility rates and how they impact customer bills.
- The barriers that prevent customers from accessing resources to lower energy bills, including energy waste reduction programs, and weatherization assistance and pre-weatherization programs.
- Identifying community values, priorities, ideas, and concerns related to affordability and assistance.
- Where Michigan energy assistance efforts are working and what needs to be improved.
Michigan increases energy assistance, but barriers remain: MPSC chair
Scripps stressed the individual and collective benefits of Michigan’s recent energy efficiency and affordability effort that will be discussed at the Detroit workshop. He acknowledged the assistance programs still fail to meet the need among customers.
“One in four Americans is choosing between paying their energy bills and foregoing food and medicine,” he said.
On June 11, the MPSC announced it would work toward a goal of achieving a maximum 6% energy burden for low-income customers. An energy burden is defined as the percentage of gross household income spent on energy costs.
The state Legislature expanded the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP), which raises assistance funding with a monthly per-meter charge, in 2024.
Lawmakers lifted the program cap and expanded eligibility to those with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. This means that a family of four with an income around $70,000 is now eligible for assistance.
The program was previously capped at $50 million and residents who are at 150% or less of the poverty level.
Wayne Metro, which administers the program in Metro Detroit, says on its website that due to overwhelming need, all available MEAP funds are committed, and the agency is no longer enrolling applicants.
The nonprofit recommends contacting the United Way of Southeast Michigan, The Heat and Warmth Fund, and the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.
The White House cut staff for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in 2025, and proposed eliminating the program entirely in its fiscal year 2027 budget.
Scripps said Michigan’s energy efficiency programs help individual customers by reducing utility costs, and benefit the customer base more broadly by driving down system costs.
The programs include those offered by Michigan Saves, the state’s green bank, which helps arrange financing for clean energy home upgrades, and several utility-administered programs to help homeowners improve energy efficiency.
Michigan has avoided the need to build two natural gas plants because of energy savings in recent years, Scripps said.
It can be difficult for customers to navigate various energy efficiency programs and get help with things like securing a home energy assessment, he said.
The MPSC “Affordability in Focus” community workshop is 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3 at the Durfee Innovation Society, 2470 Collingwood St., Detroit, MI, 48206.