Commission Approves Smaller-Than-Requested Increase
State regulators gave the green light Thursday to a $139 million gas rate hike for Consumers Energy, a figure that is over 40% below what the company had asked for. Regulators said a household burning 75 ccf monthly would pay $3.92 more, a 4.33% bump. A 9.8% return on equity was also authorized. The new rates begin Nov. 1.[S1][S2][S3]
Thursday's decision lands a year after the MPSC's previous ruling in a Consumers Energy rate case, something Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel pointed out that day. Nessel has repeatedly pushed back on DTE and Consumers, both of which have filed numerous gas and electricity rate proposals. Earlier in the month, she said she would fight an electricity rate increase.[S1]
Infrastructure Programs Approved, Others Rejected
The commission also signed off on several related items: $207 million for an Enhanced Infrastructure Replacement Program targeting gas mains vulnerable to leaks, $66.3 million for a leak detection and repair effort, and funding to swap out aging service lines built from materials susceptible to corrosion-related leaks.[S1]
Understand this article deeper
Regulators turned down over $7.9 million Consumers requested for transmission pipeline integrity work, pointing to consistent underspending and inflated projections. They likewise denied storage pipeline replacement costs, citing plans that were premature and timelines that remained unclear, and rejected the customer service order tracker because the MPSC found no evidence the company was generating cost-savings data.[S1]
Nessel Criticizes Recurring Rate Hikes
Attorney General Dana Nessel criticized the approval, saying that utility customers across the state, whether they pay Consumers Energy or DTE, constantly ask when their energy bills will stop climbing. She said the answer is never, and that for nearly eight years her office has worked to curb these rate hikes while the cases have only grown. Nessel argued that change must come to the current system of annual on-demand rate hikes and to the regulatory structure, but that the only changes seen so far are fatter rates and heavier bills.[S1]
