Today, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved yet another natural gas rate hike for Consumers Energy, allowing the company to collect an additional $157.5 million in revenue from its ratepayers. While the approved rate hike is 37% lower than Consumers Energy’s original request for a $248 million rate hike, due in part to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s continued advocacy on behalf of ratepayers, the order is tens of millions higher than recommendations by the Department of Attorney General and the MPSC’s Administrative Law Judge (PDF).
“It is disappointing that the MPSC approved a rate hike far above not only my office’s recommendation, but even beyond its own judge’s finding that only $142 million was justified,” Nessel said. “Michigan families deserve a regulator that puts their interests first, yet this order still forces Consumers Energy ratepayers to pay far more than is fair or reasonable. By repeatedly siding with the utilities they are meant to regulate, the MPSC has shown a disturbing disregard for the struggles of Michigan families, trapping ratepayers in an unsustainable system that prioritizes corporate profits over their well-being.”