AG Nessel to Intervene in Consumers Energy’s Latest $240 Million Natural Gas Rate Hike Request

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced her intent to intervene in Consumers Energy’s latest request to hike natural gas rates by $240 million annually, which was filed yesterday before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). If approved as requested, the rate hike would amount to nearly a 10% increase for Consumers Energy gas customers, including an 8% hike for residential customers. This request comes less than three months after the utility received approval from the MPSC to hike natural gas rates by $157.5 million. 

Attorney General Nessel plans to intervene in this rate case as she does in all major utility rate cases before the MPSC. The Department of Attorney General’s staff, along with its experts, will carefully scrutinize the filing to ensure customers do not pay any costs that do not have commensurate quantifiable benefits.  

“As the state’s chief consumer advocate, it is my responsibility to protect Michiganders from utility companies that repeatedly seek to overcharge ratepayers to pad their own profits,” Nessel said. “Consumers Energy has consistently filed these rate hike requests filled with unjustifiable costs, and my office has consistently intervened to ensure any unfair or indefensible costs are not foisted onto its customers. Less than three months ago, the MPSC cut nearly 40% of Consumers Energy’s requested natural gas rate hike because the utility’s proposed costs could not be justified. This happens over and over again and amounts to millions of dollars. My office will once again thoroughly review this latest request, which – based on nearly every past experience with Consumers Energy – will undoubtably contain many of the same unjustified and overstated costs we’ve seen time and again from its incessant rate hike requests.”   

Since taking office, the Attorney General has helped save Michigan consumers more than $4 billion by intervening in utility cases before the MPSC. Additional rate hike cases currently open before the MPSC include DTE’s latest electricity rate hike request (U-21860) and natural gas rate hike request (U-21973), as well as Consumers Energy’s electricity rate hike request (U-21870).  

Consumers Energy sells electricity to approximately 1.9 million customers throughout Michigan and natural gas to 1.8 million customers across the state.