NEWS: Michigan’s attorney general says she’ll ‘intervene’ with Consumers Energy’s $450M rate increase request.

The background: That translates to a 9.8% rate hike for residential users, the biggest such request from Consumers Energy in over two decades. The utility said the fresh funds will enable “fewer and shorter power outages for Michiganders,” and pointed to a 28% drop in restoration times since 2021 (thanks to increased grid spending). 

The pushback: MI Attorney General Dana Nessel, who often intervenes in utility rate hike cases, plans to step in. She’s not the only Michigan official putting rate increases under the microscope. In September, state lawmakers floated a ratepayer bill of rights package, which includes performance-based rate making.