January 15, 2026
News media contact:Matt Helms 517-284-8300
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The Michigan Public Service Commission today ordered cable company Comcast Corp. to show cause why it should not be held in violation of Michigan’s law requiring owners or operators of underground facilities to expeditiously mark buried utility lines upon notice from MISS DIG 811 (Case No. U-22006).
MPSC Staff received multiple complaints about a lack of response to one-call MISS DIG tickets by Comcast and its affiliated entities. An initial investigation by MPSC Staff determined that the company may have failed its statutory obligation to mark facilities in a timely fashion as required under Public Act 174 of 2013, the MISS DIG Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act.
MISS DIG 811 response statistics indicate Comcast failed to respond to 35,721 dig notice requests between Sept. 10 and Nov. 24 of 2025. Under Act 174, violators of the act may be ordered to pay a civil fine of up to $5,000 per violation. The Commission also may require violators to obtain reasonable training to assure future compliance, in addition to or as an alternative to civil fines.
Adherence to MISS DIG 811 rules is critical for public safety. Michigan law requires anyone planning a project that involves digging to contact MISS DIG 811 at least three days in advance so that crews can mark the location of underground utilities — including gas, electric, telecommunications, water and sewer lines — to prevent costly damage, outages of critical services, and potential injury and death.
Education about and enforcement of safe digging laws are a key part of the MPSC’s role as an expert, impartial regulator committed to consumer protection, fairness and transparency. Learn more about how to prevent damage to buried utilities at the MPSC’s Safe Digging webpage and the MPSC’s 5 Steps to Safe Digging tipsheet.
The Commission ordered Comcast to file a response by 5 p.m. Feb. 5, 2026. A prehearing conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 18, 2026. Petitions for leave to intervene in the case must be filed by Feb. 10.
COMMISSION OKs ENERGY WASTE REDUCTION PLAN FOR DTE ELECTRIC CO. AND DTE GAS CO.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement on the energy waste reduction (EWR) plan for the years 2026-2029 for DTE Electric Co. and DTE Gas Co. (Case No. U-21681). Michigan utility EWR offerings for residential customers include ways to upgrade lighting, heating, ventilation and cooling, weatherization, energy education, appliance recycling and other ways to use energy more efficiently and save money on their utility bills. EWR programs also reduce the energy burden, improve health outcomes and strengthen the economic security of low-income customers and communities. There are also programs to help businesses of all sizes reduce their energy waste. Utility EWR investments made in 2024 will save Michiganders $1.4 billion, according to the MPSC’s most recent annual report on the programs. Among other highlights, the settlement agreement involving DTE Electric Co. and DTE Gas Co. requires the utilities to identify high energy users, particularly those with significant space heating needs, and educate them about the benefits of weatherization improvements that can reduce energy consumption, launch pilot programs to better identify and target customers who most need weatherization, work with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on a program to make home energy assessment kits available for checkout in public libraries, expand workforce development with a focus on workers from low-income communities, environmental justice communities, Tribes and Tribal communities, those displaced from other trades, and returning citizens. The Michigan Department of Attorney General, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club intervened in the DTE EWR case. MSPC Staff also participated.
MPSC APPROVES SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON CONSUMERS ENERGY’S ENERGY WASTE REDUCTION RECONCILIATION
The Commission approved a settlement agreement on Consumers Energy Co.’s application for authority to reconcile the company’s EWR costs and revenues for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2024 (Case No. U-21671). As a part of this reconciliation review, MPSC Staff conducted an on-site audit of the charges associated with Consumers’ EWR program and found that the company’s method of allocating labor expenses to EWR was based on a forward-looking percentage and not reconciled at the end of the year. The Consumers’ EWR employee list contained employees with labor attributed to the EWR program that were not involved with EWR, and there was no end-of-year true up to ensure costs were verifiable. Through settlement negotiations, Staff and Consumers agreed to a disallowance and to a new labor tracking procedure. As a result of this audit, $496,572 of ratepayer funds were saved. Consumers and MPSC Staff participated in the case.
MPSC SEEKS COMMENT ON REPORT ON UNDERGROUNDING OF ELECTRIC UTILITY LINES, PART OF STEPS TO IMPROVE GRID RELIABILITY, RESILIENCE
The Commission announced it is seeking comment on an MPSC Staff report on the findings of a technical workshop on the potential of moving electric lines underground as a way to bolster Michigan’s power grid reliability and resilience amid increasingly frequent and severe weather (Case No. U-21388). The technical workshop was part of the MPSC’s work to improve the grid’s reliability and resilience after a series of storms in 2023 left about a million customers of Consumers Energy Co. and DTE Electric Co. without power, and the devastating March 2025 northern Michigan ice storm. The technical workshop, held in September 2025, discussed costs and benefits of undergrounding and alternatives to it, as well as the latest learnings from existing pilot programs on undergrounding. The Commission seeks comments from interested persons on the findings and recommendations of the Staff report filed Oct. 21, 2025. Comments must be filed by 5 p.m. Feb. 27, 2026, with reply comments due by 5 p.m. March 27, 2026. Written comments may be mailed to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909 or emailed to mpscedockets@michigan.gov. Comments also may be submitted through the MPSC’s E-Docket system. All comments must reference Case No. U-21388.
COMMISSION APPROVES NORTHERN STATES POWER CO.’S AMENDED RENEWABLE ENERGY PLAN AND MULTI-STATE INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN
The Michigan Public Service Commission approved a settlement agreement on Northern States Power Co.’s application for approval of its amended renewable energy plan and the utility’s multi-state integrated resource plan as approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in a case that consolidates Case No. U-21814 and Case No. U-21812. The Michigan Department of Attorney General and the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan intervened in the case. MPSC Staff also participated.
MPSC SETS CONTESTED HEARING ON INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER’S APPLICATION FOR AUTHORITY TO CHANGE COST ALLOCATION METHODOLOGY
The MPSC today directed a contested case proceeding on Indiana Michigan Power Co.’s (I&M) application for ex parte approval of a proposed methodology the utility would use in the future to determine jurisdictional allocation of costs of its current generation resources between the two states it serves (Case No. U-21968). After the Michigan Department of Attorney General and the Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity filed petitions to intervene, I&M stipulated to a contested case, provided parties agreed to an expedited schedule aligned with a parallel case before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. The MPSC encouraged the administrative law judge overseeing the case to set an accelerated schedule and said the Commission would work to issue an order in the case expeditiously.
COMMISSION OUTLINES PROPOSAL FOR MISO PLANNING RESOURCE AUCTION OPT-OUTS
The MPSC today sought to provide direction for Michigan electric load-serving entities (LSEs) on the issue of the ability of LSEs under Commission jurisdiction to seek to opt out of a reliability-based demand curve (RBDC) construct used in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (MISO) annual planning resource auction (Case No. U-21998). The Commission indicated it will deny any LSE RBDC opt-out election requests received from MISO, the regional transmission organization covering most of the state, for the 2026-2027 planning year. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2024 accepted revisions to MISO’s Open Access Transmission, Energy and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff to implement a new downward-sloping, RBDC into MISO’s annual planning resource auction beginning with the 2025-2026 planning year. The Commission noted that it received no such opt-out requests from MISO in the first year of implementation. For the 2027-2028 planning year and beyond, the Commission proposes a process where such requests are automatically denied by the Commission unless an LSE files a petition with the Commission by Nov. 15 prior to the upcoming MISO planning year and lays out the accompanying support to be filed with opt-out petitions. The Commission indicated its overall preference that LSE’s under the MPSC’s jurisdiction remain active participants in MISO’s residual capacity market under the RBDC construct. The Commission said it now seeks input from interested persons and invites comments on the opt-out election process for the 2027-2028 planning year and beyond. Comments must be filed by 5 p.m. Feb. 13, 2026. Written comments may be mailed to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909 or emailed to mpscedockets@michigan.gov. Comments also may be submitted through the MPSC’s E-Docket system. All comments must reference Case No. U-21998.
MPSC SETS 2026 SCHEDULE OF REGULAR COMMISSION MEETINGS
The MPSC today approved its schedule of regular Commission meetings for 2026. The Commission will meet:
The MPSC serves as a knowledgeable, impartial regulator committed to consumer protection, fairness and transparency. For information about the MPSC, visit www.michigan.gov/mpsc, sign up for its monthly newsletter or other listservs. Follow the MPSC on Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.
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.
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.
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