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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

New expert witness testimony filed in DTE’s latest electric rate case exposes how the utility’s proposed rate hike, one of its biggest ever, does not deliver value to customers and fails to take the steps needed to turn around DTE’s abysmal record on reliability. This rate case is another example of how Michigan’s utility regulatory system

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) held three town hall meetings this week where they heard hours of testimonials, many of them filled with outrage, about the recent severe power outages. Along with the Michigan House committee hearing last week and a Michigan Senate committee hearing on March 23, the response to the performance of DTE Energy

After the recent severe power outages across southeast Michigan, many Michigan lawmakers called for answers from DTE and Consumers Energy for their unacceptably poor electric service. The first major step in getting those answers came at a lengthy hearing of the Michigan House Energy, Communications and Technology Committee on March 15. Among those who testified were representatives

In its newest rate case, filed earlier this month, DTE, the largest electricity provider in Michigan, proposes a 13.9% residential rate increase. That rate hike is among the biggest proposed by a Michigan utility in the past several years, but it also represents a slap in the face to DTE customers, as well as the Michigan

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging state regulators to open up lobbying activities by utilities to more oversight and transparency by instituting a slate of much-needed reforms that would help groups like CUB counteract the influence that utilities have had on the political and ratemaking process — often to the detriment of ratepayers. AG