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Michigan utility commission could use a new commissioner [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-06-26

Metro Detroit residents have survived an extreme heat event. An extreme heat warning expired Tuesday night. Utility customers throughout the region will likely see the effect of this on their electricity bills next month.

Or maybe they won’t. Most DTE Energy customers are simply perplexed by their bills, which seem to go up regardless of any reasonable thing that one would think would be a factor on levels of energy consumption one way or the other.

There’s a commission, with members appointed by the governor, that could step in and do something to put the brakes on DTE’s greed. If only there weren’t so many DTE cronies on the commission.

In Michigan, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) is supposed to regulate utilities like DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. When a company like DTE Energy wants to increase rates on its customers, the company files a request with the MPSC, which then reviews the request and decides to approve in full, partially approve or completely deny.

I’m not aware of the MPSC ever fully approving or fully denying a rate hike request. In March of last year, DTE asked for an increase of $456.4 million. The MPSC approved roughly $217 million, somewhat less than half what DTE asked for.

The system works! Except that DTE has gotten the bright idea to ask for more money more often. If the MPSC keeps giving DTE half of the request each time, it’ll still add up to what DTE wanted in the first place.

All the while thousands of DTE customers have trouble paying unreasonably high bills. They’re people who want to pay their bills, who want to see themselves as responsible adults who pay their own way, and many of them are people who could afford their bills if their bills were reasonable.

There are funds set up to help those people. Such as the State Emergency Relief (SER) fund, which last year ran out of money soon after the application portal opened up. If DTE took 2¢ off the NYSE:DTE quarterly stock dividends and sent that money to SER, then SER would be fully funded. The investors wouldn’t miss the 2¢ because most of them are institutional investors. Each dividend per share would still be $1 or more.

The three commissioners of the MPSC are appointed to staggered 6-year terms. Commissioner Alessandra Carreon’s term ends in a week, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) has signaled she does not intend to reappoint Carreon. According to the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club,

Commissioner Carreon has distinguished herself as the Commission’s clearest voice for frontline communities, and her career has been driven by making the clean-energy transition affordable and inclusive.



If Governor Whitmer does not re-appoint her, then we must demand that she choose a leader who will stand up for climate action, energy justice, and everyday Michiganders, not corporate interests. If corporations get their way, Michigan could stay locked into expensive and unreliable energy systems that put profits over people. That means higher bills, more blackouts, slower climate progress, and more harm to vulnerable communities. We can’t let monopoly utilities pick their own regulators—we need a Public Service Commissioner who will hold them accountable and fight for a clean, affordable energy future for all.



We must demand that Governor Whitmer re-appoint her or appoint someone who is not beholden to corporate interests. Take action and let the governor know you want a climate champion.

If not Carreon, then someone who will stand up for utility customers, rather than for the utility companies price gouging their customers.

Please sign the Sierra Club’s petition.

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