The MPSC took its first step toward implementing expanded eligibility for the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP), which provides crucial home energy assistance to income-eligible households.

The Commission on Feb. 11 kicked off its annual assessment of the funding factor for MEAP, with this year being the first since the program was significantly expanded to make more households eligible for energy assistance and self-sufficiency services (Case No U-17377). 

Legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2024 raised the income eligibility threshold for Michigan households to be eligible to receive Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP) support and the amount that may be raised for it. With higher income eligibility, MEAP could provide energy assistance to as many as 335,000 households. MEAP has assisted an average of around 50,000 households per year in recent years. 

MEAP is funded through the state’s Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund (LIEAF), through a per-meter charge assessed on retail electric billing meters. Before this year, the maximum that could be assessed per customer was $1 per month, with a cap on total funding raised through the assessment set at $50 million. Legislation signed by Gov. Whitmer raises the per-meter assessment cap to $2 over time. The revamped MEAP also eliminates the total cap on how much annual funding the meter charge can raise.

The Commission set the funding factor for 2025 at $1.25 per meter per month — limited to one meter per residential site — and seeks comment from interested persons and organizations. Under the new law, the amount can be raised by 25 cents each year until it reaches the maximum cap of $2 per meter, which may be adjusted for inflation thereafter. 

The assessment applies to all electric utilities in the state, although utilities with fewer than 45,000 residential electric customers may opt out of the program, provided they have an energy assistance program that matches MEAP eligibility requirements for heat and electricity assistance. Customers of opt-out utilities are not eligible for MEAP support. 

Eligible household income guidelines were expanded under the new law. Previously, a family of four was eligible if it made up to 150% of the federal poverty guideline, or $46,800. Now, that same family is eligible if it makes 60% of the median state income, or $61,861, beginning Oct. 1, 2025. 

Finding out which energy utility serves which areas as well as seeing where major power sources are located across Michigan are now easier with a new mapping hub released by the MPSC.

The agency’s new geographic information system (GIS) mapping hub, featured on the MPSC’s Reporters, Forms, & Data webpage, has maps of service territories for every Michigan energy utility, along with locations of power plants, renewable energy sources and pipelines that transport natural gas and oil.

The up-to-date maps show in detail the service areas for all investor-owned energy utilities regulated by the MPSC, along with the territories of municipal utilities and electric cooperatives not regulated by the state. Other GIS maps show the locations of power generation sources including large plants powered by coal, natural gas or nuclear energy, as well as the location of utility-scale solar arrays, wind farms, hydroelectric facilities and biomass plants.

“We’re thrilled to release the new mapping page that makes this energy information easily accessible to the public,” MPSC Chair Dan Scripps said. “The MPSC has been working to make energy issues more transparent and understandable for Michigan’s energy consumers, and these maps provide new insights into the infrastructure that powers our state.”

More detailed maps of utility service territories, searchable by address, make it easier for residential customers new to Michigan or considering a move to know which energy provider is likely to serve them. It’s also useful information for businesses looking to locate in Michigan. Data sets used in the maps are downloadable and free to use.

The mapping page began as a project to modernize utility service maps in Michigan, but over the course of two years expanded to include the additional information about Michigan’s energy infrastructure.