{
  "id": 890807,
  "title": "Michigan regulators ask lawmakers to end annual rate hikes, change how DTE, Consumers make money",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/michigan-regulators-ask-lawmakers-to-end-annual-rate-hikes-change-how",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-14T17:23:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Associated Press",
    "slug": "associated-press",
    "url": "https://apnews.com/article/michigan-utilities-recommended-changes-rates-profits-8375843db6e00c173f0142f2f9d994e6"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Michigan’s utility regulator, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), has suggested changes to lawmakers in order to end the recurring practice of annual rate hikes and alter how DTE Electric and Consumers Energy generate revenue. These proposals were outlined in a letter sent by Commission Chair Dan Scripps to Governor Gretchen Whitmer.\n\nThe core of the recommendation is that Michigan's current regulatory model allows utilities to earn a return on their investments, which often leads to prioritizing costly capital projects over more affordable solutions like tree trimming or improved use of existing infrastructure. The MPSC suggests that the state's major utilities should have a multiyear rate plan based on performance in terms of reliability and affordability.\n\nKey recommendations include:\n1. Utilities should demonstrate greater efficiency in utilizing existing transmission and distribution lines before constructing new ones. A 10% increase in grid utilization could potentially reduce rates by 3.4% nationally.\n2. The bonus utilities receive for buying power should be eliminated, as it costs customers extra money. Currently, the commission estimates utilities have collected about $868 million since 2019, with $121.7 million of that coming from deals that federal law already mandated.\n3. When power plants close before customers have finished paying for them, utilities can refinance the remaining balance using low-interest bonds, which would benefit consumers. This option is currently optional, and utilities sometimes negotiate deals that allow them to continue profiting from plants that are no longer operational. The commission wants this cheaper route to be mandatory.\n4. Rules governing data centers should be codified into law, preventing future commissioners from undoing them. The commission has already established terms to prevent data centers from passing their expenses onto consumers and wants these stipulations made permanent. Additionally, data centers should be required to pay for the high-voltage lines necessary to serve them.\n5. The commission seeks to establish virtual power plants, which would enable rooftop solar, home batteries, and smart thermostats to be aggregated and sold to the grid as a small power plant. Currently, Michigan restricts residential customers from participating due to the lack of authority to regulate the companies handling the bundling process. The commission is requesting this authority.\n6. The commission recommends that the utility assistance process align with the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP) threshold of 60% of state median income. The MPSC also suggests redesigning the Home Heating Credit so that it arrives with the heating season instead of months later, moving MEAP administration to the commission, and creating a tax credit covering up to half the cost of home weatherization work.",
  "summary": "Michigan’s utility regulator told state lawmakers this week that legislation ending the cycle of yearly rate increases and rewriting the way utilities earn profit…",
  "key_points": [
    "Michigan regulators seek to end annual rate hikes for DTE and Consumers Energy.",
    "Mandatory refinance of power plant balances and codified data center rules are recommended."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}