Tagged: michigan public service commission

The Michigan Court of Appeals has rejected an effort by Jackson-based Consumers Energy to reverse a state order that it repay $85 million to its customers.     

Consumers Energy’s customers are not getting any new money back from the utility.   Consumers already repaid the $85 Million a year ago.  

But the legal fight over the state’s order has continued since then.  

Thousands of Michiganders could lose access to tens of millions of dollars in home heating assistance this winter. Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that Consumers Energy no longer has to collect money from its natural gas customers for a low-income energy assistance program.

Consumers Energy customers may see their monthly electric bills increase by the end of the year.  The Jackson-based utility wants to increase the average customer’s bill by more than seven dollars a month.  Jeff Holyfield  is a Consumers Energy spokesman. 

“The increase we have requested in this rate case primarily reflects the major investments…nearly a billion dollars that  Consumers Energy is making to maintain and improve service to its 1.8 million electric customers and to improve the environment.”   

There’s a bit of a disconnect for many Michiganders when it comes to logging onto  the internet.   A new survey shows 82% of Michiganders have a home computer.   But access to a broadband connection to the internet is another matter.