Public Service Commission outlines reliability push, grant spending and new renewable siting section

Dan Scripps, chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), told the House Appropriations Subcommittee the commission's priority for 2025 is improving electric-distribution reliability while implementing recent legislative energy reforms and managing grants and federal program responsibilities.

Scripps said the MPSC regulates investor-owned electric and natural-gas utilities and has some telecommunications oversight. The commission carries out its authority through contested-case procedures governed by the Administrative Procedures Act and related rules; its orders are subject to judicial review. He cited the longstanding principle that the commission is a creature of statute and should not make management decisions for utilities.

Funding and staffing: Scripps said the MPSC is staffed by about 220 professionals. The commission's operations are financed mainly by the Public Utilities Assessment (PUA), a restricted fund established under Public Act 299 of 1972 assessed on regulated utilities; PUA covers roughly 83 percent of the commission's current-year operating budget. The commission also receives federal pipeline-safety grant funding under a delegated-authority agreement with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), though Scripps said federal reimbursement rates have been lower than the statutory 80 percent authorized amount in recent years. General-fund dollars are provided to the commission primarily for grant-making (for example the EIED grant programs), he said.

Reliability and the distribution audit: Scripps summarized recent reliability improvements and the MPSC's actions to address outages. He noted that Consumers Energy reported a 21-minute average reduction in outage minutes in 2024 compared with 2023 and that DTE reported a 70 percent improvement in time spent without power. The commission ordered an independent third-party audit of Consumers and DTE distribution systems; Scripps said the commission is sorting audit recommendations into three buckets: immediate actions that can be implemented now, investments to be recovered through rate cases, and long-term distribution planning adjustments.

Grants and customer programs: Scripps said the MPSC manages grant programs including the Renewable Energy and Electrification Enhancement and Development (EIED) grants and the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEEP). He said the commission awarded $20.8 million to 19 grantees under an EIED program and continues to monitor $50 million provided under a low-carbon grant program in FY22-23. MEEP, run by the commission in partnership with DHHS and local grantees, served more than 50,000 households this year, Scripps said.

Renewable-energy siting and staffing: Following 2023 statutory changes, Scripps said the commission created a renewable-energy siting section, hired a section manager (Sarah Malkoff) and four additional staff. He told the committee no siting cases had been filed with the commission yet and that the statutory process requires applicants generally to begin at the local level; the commission will hear cases where the local government requests or where a compatible local ordinance is not possible.

Regulatory procedures, integrated resource plans and other work: Scripps described the contested-case process used for rate cases, resource plans and safety-rule enforcement; he said the commission had issued 389 orders the prior year and met 100 percent of case-related statutory deadlines. The commission is implementing 2023 energy-law changes including revised long-term integrated resource-plan filing requirements, renewable-energy-plan studies and updated interconnection procedures. He also noted Michigan's energy-efficiency programs have scored highly in national rankings.

Customer service: Scripps said MPSC energy and telecommunications staff handled more than 11,000 customer inquiries last year, with average hold time around 15 seconds and average resolution times of roughly 10-15 business days depending on the complaint type.

During questions, representatives pressed Scripps on appointments and confirmation timing, the commission's public-hearing schedule, how peak pricing affects residential and small-business customers, siting procedures and whether commission activities are regulatory rather than advocacy-driven. Scripps described the commission's statutory role as a regulator that evaluates evidence in cases and implements statutory standards when determining whether proposed utility plans and investments are the most reasonable and prudent approach to meeting needs.