MPSC to hold energy assistance fair
 The MPSC is hosting the second in a series of energy assistance fairs and listening sessions on May 24, 3-7 p.m., at the Michigan Works! Service Center, 499 W. Main Street in Benton Harbor. Light snacks will be available, and parents are welcome to bring their children.
The event is designed to help connect southwest Michigan families to state and local resources for home energy assistance. The MPSC is also seeking public feedback on energy affordability and accessibility and the availability of energy assistance programs.
Some of the agencies that will have representatives on hand at the Benton Harbor fair include the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, TrueNorth Community Services, Catholic Community Center, Indiana Michigan Power Co., Michigan Gas Utilities Corp., Midwest Energy & Communications, DTE Energy, and MPSC Customer Assistance Staff.
Participants also may provide input during a listening session held at the same venue that is part of the MPSC’s Energy Affordability and Accessibility Collaborative. MPSC Staff is hoping to hear from individuals using energy assistance programs in order to improve the state’s efforts to better address energy affordability.
There are several time slots available for the listening sessions, and participants are encouraged to preregister at https://www.research.net/r/MPSCEnergyFair2. Listening session participants can enter a drawing after each session for a $100 energy efficiency kit.
Related link:
Learn more on the energy assistance fair at the event’s webpage.
Decisions from recent MPSC meetings
Here’s information on some of the orders the Commission approved at its two most recent meetings:
April 25
- The MPSC approved extended statutory deadlines for review of Consumers Energy Co.’s long-range projections for how the utility will provide electric service to residential and business customers, after the company and multiple stakeholders announced they’d reached a settlement agreement (Case No. U-21090). The agreement still must be approved by the Commission. 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, have been extended to June 25 and Aug. 24, 2022, respectively, allowing more time to consider the settlement agreement.
May 12
- The MPSC approved a settlement agreement resolving Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp.’s (UMERC) integrated resource plan (IRP), the utility’s long-range projections for providing electricity to its customers in the Upper Peninsula (Case No. U-21081). Approval means UMERC can proceed with its preferred course of action, relying on the use and continued maintenance of two natural gas-fueled power plants built in 2018 and 2019 to boost electric reliability and replace an aging coal-fired plant in Marquette. UMERC’s IRP also calls for the utility to add 100 MW of solar electricity generation that would reduce the utility’s reliance on renewable energy credits and replace potentially more volatile and higher-cost purchases of electricity from energy markets, as well as increasing the utility’s efforts to reduce energy waste.
- The MPSC, aiming to maximize Michigan’s benefit from $550 billion in federal infrastructure funding, directed the state’s regulated electric and natural gas utilities to file comments demonstrating how the companies are, or should be, considering and taking advantage of grants, loan programs, funds, and assistance available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (Case No. U-21227). The Commission meeting also included a presentation from Kate Gordon, Senior Advisor to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, describing some of the funding opportunities under the infrastructure act.
- The MPSC approved an application for transfer of control of Detroit Thermal LLC, the steam utility that serves more than 100 buildings in the city’s greater downtown (Case No. U-21194). The Commission approved the transfer of membership interests in Beacon Holdings LLC from Detroit Renewable Energy LLC to Cartier Energy LLC. Terms of the settlement agreement provide that the transfer will not have an adverse impact on Detroit Thermal customer rates nor result in substantial labor force reductions or changes. Cartier also will not seek rate recovery for costs of the transaction and will keep the headquarters of Detroit Thermal in Michigan for the foreseeable future. Separately, the Commission approved a 10-year steam sales agreement between Detroit Thermal and the State of Michigan for the supply of steam to the Cadillac Place building on West Grand Boulevard west of Woodward in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood (Case No. U-21220).
For more about recently approved orders, check out the MPSC’s news releases from Commission meetings on April 25 and May 12.
Tune in to our next regularly scheduled virtual commission meeting on May 26, 2022, at 1 p.m.
The mission of the Michigan Public Service Commission is to serve the public by ensuring safe, reliable, and accessible energy and telecommunications services at reasonable rates.
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