A multi-year court battle has ended with a victory for Michigan consumers. On May 1 the Michigan Supreme Court denied Detroit Edison’s request for an upwards rate adjustment of over $65 million annually for 40 years.
“This decision is an important win for Michigan ratepayers,” said Kara Rumsey, Public Interest Advocate for the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM). “Detroit Edison cannot be allowed to pass hundreds of millions of dollars in unreasonable and unjustified costs on to consumers. At a time when many Michiganders are struggling to pay their bills, utility companies must be held to their responsibility to provide electric and gas service at reasonable rates.”
Detroit Edison sought the rate increase to cover the premium it paid to acquire MichCon’s parent company MCN Energy, despite the Michigan Public Service Commission’s ruling that Detroit Edison never adequately explained why it paid $893 million over market price for the company. PIRGIM and the Michigan Environmental Council fought this rate increase at all levels of Michigan’s legal system, working alongside Michigan’s Attorney General at the Michigan Supreme Court to win this decision.
The Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) is a non-profit non-partisan state-based advocacy organization. For more information, visit www.pirgim.org
