As Michigan Regulators Unveil Recommendations For Lowering Energy Costs, Advocates Urge Action

Michigan Advance

August 19, 2026

Amid continued frustration from Michiganders around increases to their energy rates and frequent outages, the Michigan Public Service Commission has put forth several proposals that could bring residents some relief.

In response to a request from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the energy regulatory panel offered several suggestions on how lawmakers can act to improve energy affordability and reliability, as well as improve energy assistance programs for low-income residents.

The commission focused its suggestions on three areas: reining in unnecessary costs

The commission focused its suggestions on three areas: reining in unnecessary costs; addressing energy companies’ bias toward capital investments over taking actions to improve affordability; and increasing opportunities for competition in order to drive down costs through the state’s existing framework.

Included in their recommendations is a tweak to the law so Michigan’s energy companies can no longer request rate increases on a year-to-year basis, a proposal state Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) already brought to the Legislature earlier this year.

In addition to shifting Michigan’s utilities over to multi-year rate plans, the commission also recommended tying energy companies’ earnings to their performance, a policy lawmakers have also discussed.

The commission’s proposals also include:

• Requiring energy companies to prioritize existing energy transmission and distribution infrastructure before building more.
• Removing unnecessary utility incentives and requiring utilities to use lower-cost financing options for retired power plants.
• Improving competition in Michigan’s energy market by allowing the commission to license third-party energy resources aggregators, and allowing energy customers to participate in virtual power plants, where homeowners share the benefit of energy resources like rooftop solar panels with the rest of the grid.
• Strengthening Michigan’s energy waste reduction program and expanding it to apply to distributed energy resources like rooftop solar panels and home battery storage.
• Adopt legal protections to ensure data centers pay the full cost of providing service to their facilities.
• Expand eligibility for low-income energy assistance programs and increase funding to help weatherize low-income households.

The regulators’ recommendations received a warm reception from clean energy advocates and environmental advocacy groups who noted these proposals could bring energy customers real relief.

However, multiple organizations advised against sitting idle, as some noted they’d been working on legislation to address energy costs and bolster clean energy access for years.

“These recommendations cannot be treated as just suggestions – it’s on the Legislature and MPSC to work together with urgency,” Courtney Brady, Midwest director for Evergreen Action, said in a statement. “We need to move swiftly to put in place strong data center guardrails and checks on monopoly utilities so we can deliver the affordable, reliable, clean energy system Michigan families deserve.”

In a statement to Michigan Advance, Ben Poulson, the state government affairs director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said the commission’s findings were confirmation that the state is badly in need of energy reform.

He also criticized the Republican leadership in the Michigan House for failing to act on Ratepayer Bill of Rights legislation, which supporters say would ensure residents receive fair compensation for power outages; bar utility companies from making using ratepayer funds to support executive compensation, political lobbying, advertising and political spending; establish a legal framework for community solar energy programs; and bring additional scrutiny to utility performance, among other reforms.

“It’s clear from the MPSC recommendations that we need to crack down on poor performance by the utility companies, rein in unnecessary costs they’re charging us, and expand competition and choice by increasing access to clean energy,” Poulson said. “The Legislature should immediately return to Lansing and tackle this pressing issue head-on.”

While the Ratepayer Bill of Rights package includes legislation sponsored by members of both parties and lawmakers in both the Michigan House and Senate, the effort has largely been led by Democratic members of the House.

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and House Republicans have put forth their own proposals, blaming Michigan’s affordability and reliability issues on corporate greed alongside state law requiring energy companies to provide a portfolio of 100% clean energy by 2040.

“Our plan repeals the 2023 green energy mandates and restores a commonsense approach that allows engineers, not politicians, to determine how to keep our rates reliable and affordable,” state Rep. Pauline Wendzel (R-Watervliet) told reporters at a March press conference. “It restructures utility planning so the Michigan Public Service Commission approves energy plans based first on system reliability and minimizing cost to our ratepayers; it evaluates how the grid performs on repeat demand and extreme conditions, which we’re seeing a lot more.”

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