Attorney General Nessel gets the MPSC to settle UPPCO’s request to raise rates.

Attorney General Nessel gets the MPSC to settle UPPCO’s request to raise rates.

Attorney General Nessel gets the MPSC to settle UPPCO’s request to raise rates.

LANSING, Mich. (WLUC) – Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) asked for a rate increase, but the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved a settlement after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel stepped in to get a 60% reduction, funds to help low-income customers pay their bills, and a fixed-term ban on future rate increases.

“This settlement will save ratepayers in the Upper Peninsula a lot of money and help them out,” said Nessel. “This settlement cuts the utility company’s request for a rate increase by a lot. It also creates and pays for help for many customers who are having trouble paying their energy bills.”

UPPCO wanted to raise electric rates by $25.3 million. This settlement cuts that amount by nearly 60%, to $10.8 million. The rates for residential customers would have gone up by more than 25%, and the monthly customer charge would have gone from $15 to $29.

The terms of the settlement that the Attorney General reached with the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan and the MPSC staff are:

• A nearly 60% cut to the requested rate increase, bringing in $10.8 million instead of the $25.3 million that was asked for;
• The elimination of a plan to raise the customer charge by $14 per month,
• A stop-gap that keeps rates from going up until 2025;
• A gift of $200,000 from UPPCO to help low-income customers pay their bills; the creation of a residential income assistance program that gives each customer a $15 credit on their bill; and
• A rise from 3% to 4.5% in the limit on distributed generation.

Since she took office, Attorney General Nessel has stopped over 100 requests to raise rates before the MPSC. This has saved Michigan ratepayers over $2 billion.

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