Lansing, Michigan – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is supporting more responsibility for utilities and more customer affordability in an obvious push toward improving utility dependability and consumer protection. This initiative follows the latest results of an audit on the two main utility companies in Michigan, Consumers Energy Company and DTE Electric Company, regarding their electric distribution networks.
Nessel and other interested parties last week sent a letter to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on the audit started following major power outages in early 2022 seriously compromising the service regions of utility companies. Under direction from the MPSC, a third-party consultant conducted the audit in October 2022 primarily in search of necessary changes to lower the duration and frequency of power outages as well as to find critical safety improvements.
Released in September, the audit findings showed that for both Consumers Energy and DTE, the top cause of power outages still is interaction between trees and electricity lines. Although capital expenditure has increased significantly over the past seven to eight years in order to improve power reliability, the audit revealed little actual improvement. It noted that the projected hundreds of millions of dollar future capital expenditures could follow the same useless route.
In her remarks, Nessel attacked the utilities for giving capital expenditure—which rewards shareholders with over a 10 percent return on investment—priority over operational expenses like tree trimming, thus affecting service dependability.
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Nessel clarified that the emphasis on capital expenditures over more immediate, preventative actions like tree cutting has not produced the required increases in dependability. She also expressed concerns about the absence of customer responsibility, underlining that utilities have been allowed to transfer significant expenses onto ratepayers without paying fines for not providing promised performance improvements.
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Moreover, Nessel noted that the audit did not specifically target the underlying reasons of prior dependability problems, therefore complicating efforts to stop such events going forward.
“I share the frustration felt by ratepayers and the Commission regarding the persistent, unacceptable power outages that plague both Consumers Energy and DTE customers,” she said.
The Attorney General ended her remarks by reaffirming the need of concentrated enhancements on dependability, responsibility, and economy in Michigan’s utility services.
“While I commend the Commission for conducting this audit, it is merely a first step. We need concrete, decisive action and answers regarding past failures to prevent them in the future. Focusing on reliability, accountability, and affordability is essential to improving performance,” Nessel said in a statement.
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The MPSC is set to continue its review process, taking into account the responses from the utilities and other interested parties. Reflecting the pressing need for systematic change in the wake of regular and disruptive power outages, this continuous study of the state’s utility operations aims to provide a road toward more dependable and customer-centric service setup.