April 25, 2022
Media contact: Matt Helms 517-284-8300
Customer Assistance: 800-292-9555
The Michigan Public Service Commission has approved extended statutory deadlines for review of Consumers Energy Co.’s integrated resource plan (IRP) — the utility’s long-range projections for how it will provide electric service to residential and business customers — after the company and multiple stakeholders announced last week that they’ve reached a settlement agreement (Case No. U-21090).
Consumers Energy on April 20 filed a proposed settlement agreement — which still must be approved by the Commission — resolving outstanding issues among parties involved in the contested IRP proceedings. Consumers notes that, while multiple parties have either signed on to the agreement or indicated they do not object to it, other intervenors have neither signed the agreement nor indicated they will not object to it.
Consumers and MPSC Staff jointly filed a motion to extend statutory deadlines; 300-day and 360-day statutory deadlines set for April 26 and June 25, 2022, respectively, would be extended to June 25 and Aug. 24, 2022, respectively. Today’s order approves the extensions, which allow more time to consider the settlement agreement.
The Commission gave participating parties 14 days to file responses to the proposed settlement. Responses must be filed by 5 p.m. May 4, 2022.
The Commission set a tentative schedule to allow parties to present evidence and arguments on the proposed settlement agreement should any party ultimately decide to challenge it. Direct testimony would be due on May 9, with rebuttals on May 13. An evidentiary hearing would take place May 20. Initial briefs would be due May 25 and reply briefs May 27.
According to Consumers’ filing of the settlement agreement, parties that have signed onto the settlement are the Michigan Attorney General; Michigan Environmental Council; Natural Resources Defense Council; Sierra Club; MPSC Staff; Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association; Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest; Ecology Center; Union of Concerned Scientists; Vote Solar; Urban Core Collective; Citizens Utility Board of Michigan; Hemlock Semiconductor; Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council; Institute for Energy Innovation; Clean Grid Alliance, and Michigan Electric Transmission Company. Michigan Public Power Agency and Midland Cogeneration Venture offered statements of non-objection. Intervenors Energy Michigan; Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative; Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Residential Customer Group; Cadillac Renewable Energy; Genesee Power Partners; Decker Energy-Grayling; Hillman Power Co.; Tondu Corp; Viking Energy of Lincoln; Viking Energy of McBain, and the Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity did not sign the settlement or indicate whether they would sign a statement of non-objection.
COMMISSION APPROVES REVISIONS TO INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER CO.’S
IM GREEN VOLUNTARY GREEN PRICING PROGRAM
(Case No. U-18353) The MPSC today approved Indiana Michigan Power Co.’s (I&M) application to continue its voluntary green pricing (VGP) program, IM Green, with a reduced surcharge and credit. The company submitted a revised tariff reflecting a surcharge reduction from $0.02415 to $0.01877 for each kilowatt hour and a credit reduced from $0.01633 to $0.01521 per kilowatt hour, based on the forecasted cost-of-service for year 2022 and 2023. The Commission also agreed with I&M’s proposal to update the IM Green credit every two years, rather than annually.
CONSUMERS ENERGY POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR MORROW HYDRO PLANT APPROVED, WITH COST SAVINGS FOR UTILITY’S CUSTOMERS
The Commission has approved a power purchase agreement (PPA) between Consumers Energy Co. and STS Hydropower LLC for the output of the Morrow Hydro Plant, an 800-kilowatt power generating facility on the Kalamazoo River in Kalamazoo County (Case No. U-20833). Consumers has contracted for the plant’s output since 1985. Among the benefits of the new PPA are a cost reduction of $254,710 over the term of the PPA — Jan. 1, 2022, to May 31, 2027 — compared to its previous contract, savings that will be passed to customers through the utility’s power supply cost recovery process.
SEMCO ENERGY GAS CO.’S ENERGY WASTE REDUCTION PLAN APPROVED
The MPSC today signed off on SEMCO Energy Gas Co.’s 2022-23 (Case No. U-20883) energy waste reduction plan, approving the utility’s financial incentive mechanism for meeting energy savings targets under Public Act 295 of 2008, as amended by Public Act 342 of 2016. The Michigan Department of Attorney General and Citizens Utility Board of Michigan intervened in the case. MPSC Staff also participated.
MPSC OKs REVISED VOLUNTARY GREEN PRICING PROGRAM WITH LOWER COSTS FOR PARTICIPATING CUSTOMERS OF UPPER PENINSULA POWER CO.
The MPSC today approved an updated voluntary green pricing (VGP) program for the Upper Peninsula Power Co. (UPPCO), which serves parts of the central and western UP (Case No. U-21152). UPPCO’s VGP program, UPPCO Green, remains the same as previously approved, but the company sought approval to reduce the customer charge for the program’s renewable energy blocks from $2.30 per 100 kilowatt hours to $1.30 per 100 kilowatt hours, a reduction the utility credited to strong production in 2020 of its hydroelectric generators. In VGPs, a utility’s customers voluntarily specify a certain amount of electricity purchases to be from renewable energy resources, with costs of the program billed to participating customers. The Commission restated the importance that participating customers are contributing to increased renewable energy deployment, and required UPPCO to include program offerings that result in the deployment of additional renewable energy resources higher than the levels approved in renewable energy plans and integrated resource plans in their next VGP filing. The Commission directed UPPCO to file semi-annual VGP program reports Oct. 1, 2022, and each April 1 and Oct. 1 thereafter until further notice.
To look up cases from today’s meeting, access the MPSC’s E-Dockets filing system.
Watch recordings of the MPSC’s meetings on the MPSC’s YouTube channel.
For information about the MPSC, visit www.michigan.gov/mpsc, sign up for its monthly newsletter or other listservs, or follow the Commission on Twitter or LinkedIn.
DISCLAIMER: This document was prepared to aid the public’s understanding of certain matters before the Commission and is not intended to modify, supplement, or be a substitute for the Commission’s orders. The Commission’s orders are the official action of the Commission.
# # #
