By Nick Smith
Gongwer News Service
The Department of Attorney General last week intervened in the latest rate case filed by Consumers Energy Company and submitted testimony urging regulators to approve less than half of the utility’s requested rate increase.
Attorney General Dana Nessel in a Tuesday release said her office has asked the Public Service Commission to approve about 47% of the requested $456 million rate increase that Consumers is seeking.
Further, the department in its testimony filed last week with the PSC that the utility’s requested increase of its profit margins to 10.25% should be reduced to 9.2% return on equity.
Nessel’s office also urged regulators to consider affordability in its review of the request, citing a rise in residential disconnections as well as existing high electric rates.
In a statement, Nessel alleged that Consumers in its request had included several unjustifiable costs that should be removed to prevent the costs from being passed on to ratepayers.
“It is likely the MPSC will simply split the difference between the well-reasoned numbers my office proposes and the obscene demand from the utility, as they’ve done many times,” Nessel said. “In this time of serious cost concerns in households all across Michigan, from groceries to gasoline, from the gas bill to the electric bill, it is remarkable our utilities continue to demand, and receive, rate hikes as large as we’ve ever seen.”
Consumers formally filed its application for the $456 million rate increase on June 3. It also requested $25 million for a distribution deferral through a 12-month surcharge.
In its application, Consumers stated that the requested increase was needed to continue efforts at improving grid reliability and improving its distribution infrastructure.
PSC members approved a $276 million rate increase for Consumers in March.
Gongwer News Service
The Department of Attorney General last week intervened in the latest rate case filed by Consumers Energy Company and submitted testimony urging regulators to approve less than half of the utility’s requested rate increase.
Attorney General Dana Nessel in a Tuesday release said her office has asked the Public Service Commission to approve about 47% of the requested $456 million rate increase that Consumers is seeking.
Further, the department in its testimony filed last week with the PSC that the utility’s requested increase of its profit margins to 10.25% should be reduced to 9.2% return on equity.
Nessel’s office also urged regulators to consider affordability in its review of the request, citing a rise in residential disconnections as well as existing high electric rates.
In a statement, Nessel alleged that Consumers in its request had included several unjustifiable costs that should be removed to prevent the costs from being passed on to ratepayers.
“It is likely the MPSC will simply split the difference between the well-reasoned numbers my office proposes and the obscene demand from the utility, as they’ve done many times,” Nessel said. “In this time of serious cost concerns in households all across Michigan, from groceries to gasoline, from the gas bill to the electric bill, it is remarkable our utilities continue to demand, and receive, rate hikes as large as we’ve ever seen.”
Consumers formally filed its application for the $456 million rate increase on June 3. It also requested $25 million for a distribution deferral through a 12-month surcharge.
In its application, Consumers stated that the requested increase was needed to continue efforts at improving grid reliability and improving its distribution infrastructure.
PSC members approved a $276 million rate increase for Consumers in March.
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