Michigan families could see more breathing room between utility rate increases under a set of recommendations from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) released earlier this month, which also call for expanded energy assistance, weatherization programs and greater use of small-scale renewable energy.
“Moving away from what have become essentially annual rate cases would go a long way to addressing the fatigue customers feel from utilities asking for another rate increase, sometimes just days after getting their last increase approved,” MPSC chair and former Northport area state representative Dan Scripps said.
The recommendations came in response to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s request for legislative reforms aimed at improving energy affordability and reliability. The recommendations include tying utility earnings more closely to customer outcomes, requiring utilities to get more use and value out of existing grid infrastructure before building new ones and making large power users like data centers pay the full cost of the strain they put on the system.
