Great Lakes Wire

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has approved a $157.5 million increase in natural gas rates for Consumers Energy, allowing the utility to collect more revenue from its customers. The decision comes after Consumers Energy initially sought a $248 million rate hike, which would have resulted in a 12% increase for residential customers. The approved amount is about 37% less than the original request.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel played a role in reducing the proposed rate hike, arguing that it should be cut by nearly 70% to $76.5 million. Despite this advocacy and recommendations from both her office and the MPSC’s Administrative Law Judge, the final approved amount remains tens of millions higher than those suggestions.

“It is disappointing that the MPSC approved a rate hike far above not only my office’s recommendation, but even beyond its own judge’s finding that only $142 million was justified,” Nessel said. “Michigan families deserve a regulator that puts their interests first, yet this order still forces Consumers Energy ratepayers to pay far more than is fair or reasonable. By repeatedly siding with the utilities they are meant to regulate, the MPSC has shown a disturbing disregard for the struggles of Michigan families, trapping ratepayers in an unsustainable system that prioritizes corporate profits over their well-being.”

On the same day as the natural gas rate decision, Attorney General Nessel filed testimony opposing Consumers Energy’s latest electric rate case before the MPSC. In May, Consumers Energy requested permission to raise electric rates by $436 million—the largest such request during Nessel’s tenure and likely one of the largest in decades—just two months after receiving approval for a separate $154 million increase.

Nessel recommended cutting this proposed electric hike by 64%, which she says could save hundreds of millions of dollars for consumers. In addition to seeking an annual increase, Consumers Energy also aims to recover another $24 million through a temporary surcharge related to deferred distribution costs. If fully approved as requested by Consumers Energy, overall rates would rise by 9.2%, with household rates increasing by 13.3%. Nessel has urged regulators to limit any increase to no more than 3.5%.

“Time and again, Consumers Energy comes to the MPSC demanding outrageous rate hikes – and time and again, my office intervenes to protect Michigan families,” Nessel said. “After combing through this massive electric rate hike request line by line, we have found nearly two-thirds of it to be overstated, unjustified, and flat-out unfair to its customers. Michigan families are already being squeezed by higher costs at every turn, and they should not be forced to bankroll a for-profit corporation’s excessive demands.”

According to her office, Attorney General Nessel's interventions before the MPSC have saved Michigan consumers nearly $4 billion over time. Currently, Consumers Energy supplies electricity to approximately 1.9 million customers and natural gas service to about 1.8 million across Michigan.