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Michigan PSC approves interconnection and reliability orders, clears Ford EV home-backup ruling
Summary
The Michigan Public Service Commission on March 13 approved a set of interconnection orders, launched a work group on distribution reliability and ruled that Ford Motor Company’s vehicle-to-home backup does not need prior written utility authorization.
The Michigan Public Service Commission approved a package of orders on March 13, 2025, that officials said advance grid reliability and clarify how emerging vehicle-to-home technologies interact with utility rules.
Commissioners unanimously approved an order (case U-21400) to convene a work group as part of phase two of the Reliability Plus initiative. The group will solicit comments and study five focus areas including distributed energy resource interconnection timelines, customer data access, aggregation of distributed energy resources (including potential non-wires alternatives), difficulties tied to 4.8 kV distribution-system conversions, and expanded use of advanced metering infrastructure. The commission set an initial comment schedule with follow-up comments concluding June 27, 2025.
Shannon Womba, the commission’s staff attorney, said technical and legal staff vetted the proposals before the bench. The commission also approved interconnection procedures and related waivers for several utilities (Northern States Power Company, Consumers Energy Company, DTE Electric Company and others) in separate orders (U-21455, U-21480, U-21482 and U-21767) to streamline how distributed generation connects to the grid.
In a separate decision (case U-21619), the commission granted a declaratory ruling requested by Ford Motor Company that a home backup function using a vehicle’s export capability does not require prior written authorization from an electric utility. Commissioner Perk said the ruling ‘‘is among the first of these in the country’’ and expressed hope it would become a model, arguing the clarification improves coordination between automakers and utilities as vehicles take on more grid-interactive roles.
The commission also set a contested-case proceeding (U-21859) and a pre-trial conference for April 16, 2025, to consider proposed tariff amendments affecting data center customers and encouraged settlement discussions under the commission’s rules.
All motions on the docketed orders were moved, seconded and carried unanimously.
The commission announced the next regular meeting for March 21, 2025, at 1:00 p.m.
