06/08: The Michigan Public Service Commission authorized Consumers Energy Company to raise electric rates by $27,468,600. The utility had requested $68,869,000. The average residential Consumers Energy electric customer will see a rate increase of less than 2 percent per month, effective in July 2008. The Commission also reduced the subsidy paid by commercial and industrial customers by nearly $20 million.
Source: Michigan Public Service Commission
http://www.michigan.gov/mpsc/

02/06: The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) issued the Status of Electric Competition in Michigan report that reviewed electric competition within the state for 2005. The PSC found that overall, electricity load served and the number of customers participating in Michigan’s competitive electric choice market fell by approximately 40% and 20%, respectively, in the service territories for both Consumers Energy Company and The Detroit Edison Company. Likewise, the MWh’s of energy sales decreased 26% in The Detroit Edison territory, but increased by 1% overall in Consumers Energy territory. The decline was attributed to several factors, primarily the steadily increasing power supply costs, and state and federal regulatory changes, including implementation of stranded cost surcharges and federal seams (“seams” refer to the transmission grid connecting two or more defined regions) elimination charges. The seams charge particularly affected one supplier causing it to cease doing business in Michigan. These factors likely impacted the competitive price of electricity supply in 2005.
Source: Michigan Public Service Commission
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/mpsc/electric/restruct/reports/compreport2005.pdf

10/02: The Michigan Public Service Commission approved AEP Ohio Commercial & Industrial Retail Company’s application for an alternative electric supplier license. At the time, there were 21 other licensed alternative electric suppliers in the State.

08/02: The Michigan PSC issued an order that mandated the CHOICE Advisory Council subcommittee to instigate a statewide customer choice education program. The order proposed that the council complete the following tasks: "informing commercial electric customers about customer choice, informing commercial and residential electric customers about the availability of green power, and informing potential alternative electric suppliers of the opportunities to participate in the customer choice program in Michigan." The order stated that the utilities and the contractors had two months to comply with the order.

02/02: The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) issued an order authorizing $27.4 million in grants from Low-Income and Energy Efficiency Fund to various organizations. According to the PSC press release, the Fund was administered by the PSC and funded from the "securitization savings that exceeded the amount needed to achieve a 5- percent rate reduction for residential and business customers." The grants were given to the Family Independence Agency, the Michigan Community Action Agency Association, the Salvation Army, the Heat and Warmth Fund, Newaygo County Community Service, Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, and Leslie Outreach Inc.

02/02: The Michigan Public Service Commission released its Status of Electric Competition in Michigan Report on February 1, 2002. At the time, retail open access was fully implemented in the state of Michigan with 3,200 customers and 15 licensed alternative suppliers participating. Michigan had three open access programs to date, two in Detroit Edison's service territory and one in Consumers Energy' service territory. Detroit Edison's Experimental Retail Access Program began on December 6, 1999, and will end on June 30, 2004. Alternative suppliers were currently providing 82 megawatts (MW) out of the program's 90 MW limit. Detroit Edison's industrial and large commercial customers were mostly utilizing the main Electric Choice Program offered to all customers. The program served a total load of 497 MW as of January 2, 2002. Consumer Energy's Electric Choice Program followed the same trend with mostly industrial and large commercial customers participating. As of January 28, 2002, alternative suppliers were serving a total load of 238 MW. Overall, the programs grew 30 percent in 2001.

01/02: The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) issued an order allowing nine electric cooperatives to use deferral accounting for the implementation and administrative costs associated with customer choice and unbundling electric rates. Cooperatives were not guaranteed cost recovery under this order, and the order stated that cooperatives would have to file a separate recovery plan with the PSC.

12/01: The PSC issued nine new orders "to advance Michigan's competitive electric environment" that took effect on January 1, 2002. The first and second orders prohibit both the Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy from changing their depreciation accrual rates and practices until January 1, 2006. The third order initiated the drafting of "rules for service quality and reliability standards for electric distribution systems." The fourth order adopted standards for the disclosure of customer information, fuel mix information, and environmental characteristics of electricity products. The fifth and sixth orders approved Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy's new retail rates. The seventh order unilaterally determined net stranded costs for utilities. The eighth order approved Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Edison Sault Electric Company's "revised return-to-service proposal." The ninth order rejected the Detroit Edison Company's application "to unbundle existing commercial and industrial electric rates."

11/01: Issued orders by the PSC included: an order adopting procedures to protect customers from slamming, switching a customer to another service provider without their consent, and cramming, billing a customer for unauthorized service, in compliance with the Customer Choice and Electricity Reliability Act of 2000; an order establishing a procedural framework for implementing and administering the Low-Income and Energy Efficiency Fund; and an order adopting a modified code of conduct for regulated and unregulated services provided by electric utilities and alternative electric suppliers.

10/01: The PSC issued an order October 11, 2001, to adopt the settlement agreement and authorizing Wisconsin Electric Power Co, Edison Sault Electric Co, Wisconsin Public Service Corp, Upper Peninsula Power Co, Northern States Power Co - Wisconsin, Indiana Michigan Power Co, and Alpena Power Co to implement Customer Choice and Electricity Reliability Act implementation plans.

12/00: Detroit Edison completed the fifth and final bidding phase in its Electric Choice Program. As in the previous bidding, the demand for capacity exceeded the amount available. To date, about 1,125 MW, or 12 percent, of DE's capacity was available to alternative suppliers.

11/00: The PSC issued two orders approving Detroit Edison's and Consumers Energy's financing order applications that allowed them to issue securitization bonds. Detroit Edison could secure $1.77 billion in costs by issuing bonds, and Consumers Energy could secure $469 million. The refinancing will allow both companies to cover the cost of implementing the 5-percent reduction in rates, which began in June 2000 after the passage of Public Act 141 and 142.

06/00: The PSC issued a series of orders to implement the restructuring legislation, which was signed into law on June 3, 2000. In the orders the PSC directed: Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison to file, by September 20, revised tariffs to implement retail access programs; investor-owned utilities, other than Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy, and cooperatives that had any customer with a peak load of 1 MW or more, to file restructuring plans to implement retail access; PSC staff to consult with utility owners, merchant plant owners, and other stakeholders to develop standards for the interconnection of merchant plants; utilities to file reports with the PSC when they learn of any reductions in federal funding for low-income and energy assistance programs; and electric generating facilities to file reports with the PSC on compliance with all applicable federal Environmental Protection Agency regulations governing mercury emissions. The PSC also issued an order that establishes the framework for alternative electric suppliers to participate in retail electric markets under the restructuring law.

06/00: The PSC ordered Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy to reduce residential rates by 5-percent. According to Public Act 141 and 142, Michigan's "Customer Choice and Electricity Reliability Act," the Commission must reduce rates by 5-percent.

06/00: Public Act 141 of 2000 and companion Public Act 142 were signed into law on June 3, 2000. The comprehensive restructuring legislation proposed that all consumers have retail choice by January 2002. Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy residential consumers would receive an immediate 5-percent rate reduction. The reduced rates would then be frozen at least until December 31, 2003. Rates for large commercial and industrial consumers would also be capped through 2003, and small business consumers’ rates would be capped at current levels through 2004. Other provisions of the law include: requiring the PSC to issue orders that would prevent “slamming” and “cramming”; creating a low-income and energy efficiency fund of approximately $40 million per year for 6 years; creating a consumer education program; authorizing stranded cost recovery and securitization (refinancing of debt); licensing new suppliers; and requiring a study of the effects of mercury emissions from the electric power industry in the State. The PSC was given authority to implement restructuring and retail competition.

03/00: The third and fourth bidding phase took place in Michigan on January 20 and March 20, respectively. Together, Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison had a cumulative total of 1,875 MW electric load under competitive bidding. In all four phases, Consumers Energy offered 150 MW each time, and Detroit Edison offered 225 MW for bid. Demand for capacity exceeded the amount available in all four bidding processes.

01/00: The second phase in Consumers Power's plan to gradually implement retail direct access would allow for 300 MW of load to be served by alternative suppliers. As in the first round of bids for 150 MW, the second set of bids exceeded the 150 MW of allotted capacity. Three more blocks of 150 MW each were scheduled to be offered for direct access on December 27, 1999, February 28, 2000, and October 30, 2000. By January 1, 2002, all consumers were scheduled to have direct access to retail electric power.

01/00: Detroit Edison customers participating in Phase I of the customer choice program began taking power from alternative suppliers in December 1999.

12/99: The first phase of retail access was implemented in September 1999 with full participation in Detroit Edison's territory. The second phase began in November. Each of five phases were proposed to make 225 MW of capacity available for all classes of consumers, until beginning in January 2002, when all consumers would have retail direct access to competitive generation provider companies.

08/99: The PSC established September 1, 1999, as the deadline for Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy to notify the PSC of their intent to voluntarily implement the Electric Choice plan, as ordered by the PSC. Both Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy had announced that they intended to implement retail competition under a voluntary basis. The Governor issued a statement in which he stated that he "continued to support the implementation of the PSC's Orders to begin the creation of a competitive market" and that "the next step(was) to codify those Orders into law..."

06/99: The Michigan Supreme Court decided that the PSC did not have the authority to mandate retail wheeling. However, Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison, which served 90 percent of the consumers in Michigan, were voluntarily restructuring according to the PSC restructuring plan. All of their consumers were scheduled to have retail access by January 1, 2002.

05/99: Seven large consumers of Detroit Edison were given the ability to buy power from competitive suppliers on June 1, 1999. Choice was scheduled to be phased in for all DE consumers by January 2002.

03/99: The PSC plan was for 2.5 percent of consumers of Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy to choose electric suppliers beginning September 1999, and adding an incremental 2.5 percent every six months until January 1, 2002, when all consumers of Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy were scheduled to gain retail access.

06/98: Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy filed revisions of draft plans that address comments from the PSC staff, customers, suppliers, and other interested parties. Both plans would phase-in retail competition over the next 4 years beginning with large industrial consumers by November 1998 and full retail access by January 1, 2002.

04/98: Responding to the PSC order, Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison filed restructuring plans to implement retail competition.

01/98: The PSC completed final action on rehearing orders required to introduce competition into the state’s electric utility market. A phase-in schedule was adopted allowing 2.5 percent of Consumer’s Energy and Detroit Edison customers retail access as early as March 1998, adding another 2.5 percent on June 1998, January 1999, January 2000, and January 2001 and all consumers by 2002.