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Furthering the Commission’s work to make Michigan’s energy grid more reliable and resilient, the MPSC recently approved a mechanism through which the state’s two largest electric utilities can receive financial incentives and penalties based on their ability to meet reliability and safety metrics.
The mechanism is the result of the work of the MPSC’s Financial Incentives and Disincentives workgroup, part of the agency’s MI Power Grid effort, to develop reliability and safety metrics and financial incentives and penalties for DTE Electric Co. and Consumers Energy Co. to improve their performance in keeping the power on and reducing the number and duration of outages.
The Commission, in Case No. U-21400, adopted a modified version of a proposal developed by MPSC Staff with extensive input obtained through public engagement sessions and comments from interested persons. The Staff proposal outlines seven metrics measuring the average length of customer outages, the length of time utilities take to restore power both after storms and in calm weather conditions, the number of customers experiencing four or more outages per year, and the utilities’ worst-performing circuits.
“Our goal from the beginning was to develop a framework that, above all, drives improvement in reliability, particularly in the areas that are most frustrating for customers,” MPSC Chair Dan Scripps said. “By staying focused on a relatively small number of performance metrics closely tied to the most acute pain points experienced by customers, I’m confident that this framework will help accelerate the progress we’re already seeing in distribution and reliability improvement.”
The Detroit area’s 313 area code is getting close to running out of new telephone numbers to assign. Soon, new customers in that region could be assigned a telephone number beginning with a 679 area code — called an overlay area code because it will serve the same area now covered by 313.
While rates and local calling areas will not be affected by this change, how we dial another party within that area code will.
Beginning in April, customers living in the 313 area code footprint should start to dial calls using 10 digits — including the area code, even for local calls within the 313 area code footprint. A six-month “permissive dialing” period will begin on April 7, 2025, to give customers time to get used to the new dialing requirement. During this period, local calls can be made with either 7 or 10 digits. Beginning on Oct. 7, 2025, all local calls made within the 313 area code must use 10 digits, including the area code. Calls placed only using 7 digits will not be completed, and callers may receive a recording asking them to disconnect the call and redial using 10 digits. All calls that are local will continue to be local even when dialing 10 digits.
Starting Nov. 7, 2025, new telephone lines or services may be assigned numbers using the new 679 area code. However, numbers in the new 679 area code will only be assigned to new customers once telephone numbers in the 313 area code have been exhausted. The exhaust date is currently projected to happen in the fourth quarter of 2027, but the timing is subject to change due to telephone numbering demand.
It's important to note: Current telephone numbers will not change, including the 313 area code. Only new phone customers will be assigned the 679 area code at a future date.
You can learn more about the new area code and how it impacts customers through the MPSC’s consumer tip sheet on the change.
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Each year, the State of Michigan marks Severe Weather Awareness Week to remind folks about the impact of severe weather and the importance of being prepared. This includes a statewide tornado drill March 19 at 1 p.m.
Ways you can prepare and keep your family safe include creating an emergency plan in case severe weather hits, and being prepared in case the power goes out. That includes understanding downed wire safety and using portable generators safely. The MPSC has a webpage dedicated to helpful tips and information on outage preparedness.
Boosting electric reliability and expanding opportunities for the public to engage with the Commission in regulatory matters were top priorities for the MPSC in 2024.
The MPSC’s 2024 Annual Report highlights major steps the Commission took in its broad effort to reduce power outages, speed up restoration of service when outages happen, and keep Michiganders safe from downed power lines. Chief among these efforts was the receipt of the Commission’s comprehensive third-party audit report, the first of its kind, examining the electric distribution systems of DTE Electric Co. and Consumers Energy Co., Michigan’s two largest electric utilities.
The Commission also expanded the number of public hearings it held at locations across the state, from Grand Rapids to Marquette, and the number of community events attended by the Commission’s outreach team. Staff attend the events to share information and resources.
Read more about all the MPSC accomplished in 2024 in the annual report.
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Here are details about orders the Commission approved at its Feb. 27 and March 11 Commission meetings:
- The MPSC on Feb. 27 revoked the eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) designation of a company suspended by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from federal funding for a program that provides discounted phone service to low-income seniors and others (Case No. U-16940). The Commission revoked Q Link Wireless LLC’s ETC designation, which allows qualifying telecommunications companies to access federal Universal Service Fund support for discounted phone service through the Lifeline program for low-income customers. The U.S. Justice Department announced in October 2024 that Q Link and its CEO pleaded guilty to stealing more than $100 million from the FCC’s Lifeline program.
- The MPSC approved DTE Electric Co.’s application Feb.27 for a reconciliation of its power supply costs and revenues for 2022 metered jurisdictional electric sales (Case No. U-21051). The Commission set a net underrecovery of $386,841,510, including interest, as DTE Electric’s 2023 power supply cost recovery reconciliation beginning balance. The Commission approved a number of disallowances, including $17,075,526 in replacement energy costs associated with an extended outage for repairs at its Fermi Unit 2 nuclear plant; $10,972,107 in replacement energy costs associated with an outage at Unit 4 of the utility’s Monroe Power Plant; and excess costs of $151,172 for trona, a chemical used to treat emissions in power plants. In all, the MPSC disallowed nearly $30 million in excess costs.
- The Commission on March 11 issued a series of orders kicking off its “Reliability-Plus” initiative (Case No. U-21400), focused on challenges to the power grid’s ability to accommodate and leverage growth in adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), distributed generation (DG) and other distributed energy resources (DERs). The Commission approved applications for approval of interconnection procedures for Consumers Energy Co. (Case No. U-21480) and Northern States Power Co. (Case No. U-21455), and approved a 90-day extension for DTE Electric Co.’s interconnection application (Case No. U-21482). The Commission also approved Ford Motor Co.’s request for a declaratory ruling that use of its home backup power system featured on its Ford F-150 Lightning EV does not require interconnection authorization from an electric utility (Case No. U-21619). Lastly, the Commission approved applications for approval of updated DG tariffs filed by several utilities to comply with Public Act 235 of 2023, which increased the size of Michigan’s DG program from 1% of an electric utility’s or alternative electric supplier’s average in-state peak load for the preceding five calendar years to 10% of the average in-state peak load for the preceding five calendar years, along with other changes to the DG program (Case No. U-21767). The Commission approved applications by Alpena Power Co., Consumers Energy Co., DTE Electric Co., Indiana Michigan Power Co., Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp. and Upper Peninsula Power Co. The Commission approved in part and denied in part the amended application filed by Northern States Power Co.
Tune in to our next regularly scheduled commission meeting on March 21 at 1 p.m.
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