December 21, 2004

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today issued an order seeking comments by Feb. 1, 2005 from interested parties on the recently filed consensus agreement on a voluntary, statewide net metering program.

Net metering occurs when customers produce electric energy in excess of their needs, providing power back to the serving utility and permitting the customer to receive a credit for power they supply to the system.

On Dec. 3, the MPSC staff and investor-owned and cooperative electric utilities regulated by the Commission filed an application seeking approval of a consensus agreement for a voluntary, statewide net metering program. The agreement is available on the MPSC Web site at:

http://efile.mpsc.cis.state.mi.us/cgi-bin/efile/viewcase.pl?casenum=14346

The agreement incorporates a definition of net metering, basic provisions for utility cost recovery, customer billing and credits for net excess generation, the total program size for each utility, the maximum size of eligible electric generators, eligible generator technologies, customer application fees and interconnection standards, the duration of the program, provisions for renewable energy certificates, utility reporting requirements, and program monitoring and evaluation.

Signatories of the consensus agreement are: MPSC staff, Alpena Power Company, American Electric Power, Edison Sault Electric Company, Upper Peninsula Power Company, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, WE Energies, XCEL Energy, Consumers Energy Company, The Detroit Edison Company, the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association, and the Michigan Electric and Gas Association.

The Commission has selected this case for participation in its electronic filings program.
People who wish to submit comments to the Commission on this case and do not anticipate participating in other MPSC electronic cases, may submit their comments in an e-mail message or as an e-mail attached document to: mpscefilecases@michigan.gov. Please specify that the comments are being filed in response to Case Number U-14346.

Parties already participating in the electronic filings program should file as they normally would for any electronically filed case.

The Commission recognizes that not all individuals have a computer or Internet access to submit comments electronically. Therefore, comments referencing Case No. U-14346 may be submitted on paper and mailed to:

Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, 6545 Mercantile Way,
P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909.

All comments submitted to the Commission are made public on the MPSC's Web site. Therefore, people with privacy concerns should exercise discretion in what information they include in their comments. Individuals are asked to include their name and address with their comments, but the Commission cautions people not to include information that should remain confidential, such as utility account numbers or social security numbers.

The MPSC is an agency within the Department of Labor & Economic Growth.

Case No. U-14346

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