Consumers Energy filed a request Friday with the Michigan Public Service Commission for a $325 million rate increase. The average household bill would increase by around $10, according to a company spokesperson.
Consumers said the rate increase is needed to improve grid reliability, bury 35 miles of power lines to reduce their vulnerability to storms, and mitigate potential wildfire risks.
Brian Wheeler, a spokesperson for Consumers Energy, said that was an increasingly important concern. “We're noticing that, with climate change and with weather conditions, there is a heightened risk of wildfires in parts of Michigan, more in the northern part of the state,” he said.
“We're also going to look to really strengthen and fortify the electric system in that part of the state, to protect it from that risk of electric wires or infrastructure, in any way, contributing to wildfires," said Wheeler.
The plans, if approved, would increase rates by 8.1% for residents, 7.9% for small businesses and 1.4% for industrial companies. The public service commission has 10 months to consider and take feedback on the request.
“We really want to keep rate increases to inflation or less where we can. Because we know utility bills, electric bills, can be a significant part of a household budget,” Wheeler said.
Ultimately, he said the plan was a part of the company's goal of improving response times to outages. “What we call our Reliability Roadmap has a goal of making sure we get power back to everybody in 24 hours or less … even after severe storms,” Wheeler said.
Consumers was approved for a rate increase worth more than $92 million in March, 57.4% less than its original request to the commission.
The Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, a nonprofit advocating for energy consumers' interests, said the plan “puts forth a lot of spending but without a lot of details on how or why electric service would actually improve as a result.” The group also said the proposed 8.1% residential increase would be “the biggest residential rate increase since 2020,” if approved.
Consumers Energy is one of Michigan Public’s corporate sponsors.
