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By October 15, 2026 / 9:42 PM EDT / CBS Detroit Add CBS News on Google The Michigan Public Service Commission on Thursday approved a $139 million natural gas rate increase for Consumers Energy, more than 40% lower than originally requested. According to MPSC, a customer who typically uses 75 ccf of natural gas per month will see a $3.92, or 4.33%, increase on their monthly bill. The commission also approved a 9.8% return on equity.
Consumers originally proposed a $240 million increase late last year. The increase will go into effect on Nov. 1. Other items approved by the commission include $207 million for an Enhanced Infrastructure Replacement Program that aims to replace gas mains at risk of leaks, $66.3 million for a leak detection and repair program and an investment to replace older service lines that are made with materials at risk of corrosion-related leaks.
The commission says it declined to award the more than $7.9 million that Consumers sought for transmission pipeline integrity work, finding a pattern of underspending in the program and projecting more than was needed. The commission also declined costs for storage pipeline replacement projects after finding premature plans and uncertain timelines, and for the customer service order tracker after the MPSC did not find the company producing cost-savings data. The rate hike approval comes one year after the MPSC approved a $157 million increase , as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel noted on Thursday.
Nessel has been critical of both DTE and Consumers, which have repeatedly submitted gas and energy rate-hike proposals. Earlier this month, Nessel announced that she was challenging Consumers' proposed $456 million electricity rate hike. "Utility customers across the State, whether they pay their bill to Consumers Energy or DTE, ask all the time when their energy bills will stop climbing," Nessel said in a statement.
"And it's clear that the answer is never. For nearly eight years my office has worked doggedly to curb these utility rate hikes, and in turn the cases have only grown. Change must come, to our current system of annual on-demand rate hikes and our regulatory structure, but the only changes we've seen are fatter rates and heavier bills." In: Consumers Energy Michigan Public Service Commission
Source: CBS News
