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Michigan regulators recently issued a warning to Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), the main electric utility for southwest Michigan: I&M has failed to show that it has been trying to get a good deal for its customers on power it purchases from an affiliated Ohio company that is a big coal-fired electricity generator, and so the

On Sept. 23 one of the most significant milestones in the effort to (hopefully) improve Michigan’s poor electric reliability arrived when the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) released the results of a year-in-the-making, comprehensive audit of the distribution systems of both DTE and Consumers Energy by third-party The Liberty Consulting Group. “We now have a

Last week the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved a $17.3 million rate increase for electric customers of Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), which, while still too high, represents another example of the MPSC demanding greater accountability for Michigan utilities because the commissioners cut the rate hike by 50% compared to I&M’s initial request. “The MPSC

On March 1, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved Consumers Energy’s latest electric rate case with an order that cut the rate increase by about 45% compared to what the utility had proposed. During the MPSC’s meeting Commissioner Alessandra Carreon explained one reason why the utility did not get all the spending approved for cost recovery

Regulations that punish utilities for poor performance is perhaps what Michiganders need the most to get more accountability and better electric reliability. But utilities are steering the regulatory process to craft new regulations toward weak and self-serving rules. Now that process is getting the spotlight it deserves with a recent Detroit News article that reports on how

The new Utility Performance Report for 2023 is the latest edition of CUB’s annual series reporting federal data on how Michigan electric and gas utilities stack up to utilities around the country on performance on key reliability, affordability and environmental metrics (Blog posts here and here provide some interesting detail about last year’s report). This year’s report stands out for two

A promising sign recently came in DTE’s pending electric rate case when an administrative law judge released a strongly-worded proposal for decision (essentially a recommendation for the Michigan Public Service Commission [MPSC]) finding that nearly half of the rate hike that DTE is asking for should be rejected. The judge agreed with arguments from CUB and other

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) of Michigan is working to ensure that penalties on utilities for poor electric reliability are paid to Michigan residents who are most harmed by power outages and that utilities do not get rewarded for substandard performance as part of a proposed new regulatory construct. CUB laid out its stances in comments recently

CUB has been arguing for years that a key part of the solution to Michigan’s problem of poor electric reliability and high energy costs for customers has to be performance-based regulation: rules that hold utilities accountable by financially penalizing them if they fail to perform well on metrics like the number of outages. Now, the