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This week, the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan (CUB) released a report titled Power Struggle: Energy Insecurity in Michigan’s Low-Income Communities. The report takes a critical look at the current state of energy affordability and reliability for Michigan’s low-income families. Along with evaluating the efficacy of current state and investor-owned utility policies, the report issues […]

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons As noted in previous blog posts, the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan (CUB) has been closely following efforts to expand Michigan’s electric transmission capacity through the planning and construction of two new transmission lines. These projects were proposed by the Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC) in cases before the Michigan Public

Consumers Energy’s offices at One Energy Plaza, Jackson. Licensed Under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.  On Tuesday, Sep 30, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved a $157.5 million increase in Consumers Energy gas rates under docket U-21806. This will equate to an 8% increase in residential rates, down from the 12% increase the

The Citizens Utility Board of Michigan (CUB)—working with the Michigan Attorney General and the Sierra Club—was successful in saving Michigan ratepayers more than $3 million through intervention in a Power Supply Cost Recovery (PSCR) case before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). The case, U-21262, involved requests from Indiana Michigan Power Company (I&M) to recover

Earlier this year, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) reopened Case No. U-20140 to review extreme weather condition policies that were established by each of Michigan’s regulated utilities in 2018. These policies are meant to protect Michigan households by providing criteria for the suspension of disconnections during periods of “extreme hot and cold weather,” which

Michigan electric utilities take longer to restore power to customers following outages than utilities in any other state, while also performing poorly on most other metrics related to reliability, affordability and the environment, according to this year’s edition of the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) of Michigan’s annual Utility Performance Report. Michigan utilities ranked 51st out

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which manages the grid in most of Michigan and much of the central United States, has launched one of the most ambitious transmission expansion efforts in decades. Its Long-Range Transmission Plan (LRTP) calls for thousands of miles of new high-voltage lines, an effort which promises to deliver billions in

One of the Upper Peninsula’s largest utilities claims that compliance with state renewable energy standards would necessitate decisions that would lead to drastic bill increases for ratepayers. In its request to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) for approval of its Amended Renewable Energy Plan (Case U-21813), Upper Michigan Energy Resources (UMERC), argued that to

Photo by Brendan Wood, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0   For over 40 years, the federal government’s Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has been assisting ratepayers across Michigan. In 2025, the program provided about $160 million for low-income and emergency assistance in Michigan alone. That is why ratepayer advocates across our state were alarmed to

Public comments keep rolling in to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) regarding two cases in which the MPSC is considering granting certificates of public convenience and necessity for the Michigan portions of two major proposed transmission lines: Case U-21471, regarding the line proposed between the Oneida Substation in Eaton County and Nelson Road Substation