LANSING – The Citizens Utility Board of Michigan (CUB of MI), an organization advocating for Michigan residential ratepayers, today issued the following statement regarding the Michigan Public Service Commission’s approval of a rate increase by DTE Energy.
“At a time when Michigan residents have the highest electricity costs in the Midwest, this rate increase hits residential customers hardest, increasing their rates further,” said Amy Bandyk, executive director of CUB of MI. “We compliment the Public Service Commission for not accepting DTE’s full rate increase request, but we’re concerned that residential customers still take the brunt of this rate hike. It is especially unfair to low-income customers who can barely pay for the rates they are presently charged. We urge the Public Service Commission to stand up for Michigan families and hold big utility companies accountable.”
“We’re pleased to see that the Public Service Commission rejected DTE’s request for automatic rate increases over the next three years that would have increased DTE’s revenue by almost a billion dollars and would have increased residential rates by almost 30%,” said Bandyk. “We also oppose increasing monthly fixed charges for residential customers and are glad to see the Commission rejected DTE’s proposal to raise them.”
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The Citizens Utility Board of Michigan’s mission is to represent the interests of residential energy customers across the state. Our goal is to educate and engage Michigan consumers in support of cost-effective investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy and against unfair rate increase requests. To learn more, visit www.cubofmichigan.org.