Customer Choice Coalition Newsletters
February 27, 2009

Newsletter Archive

News and Information

Detroit Edison customers soon to be locked out of electric choice - CCC Press Release
(December 7, 2009)
The holiday season is upon us and Detroit Edison electric customers will soon be handed a lump of coal as DTE nears the 10 percent cap on electric choice customers in their service area.

“When passed last year, supporters insisted competition and choice were kept alive because 10 percent of each major utility’s load was allowed to move to competitive companies,” said Barry Cargill, executive director of the Customer Choice Coalition. “Now, just 13 months later, Consumers Energy has met their limit and Detroit Edison is currently at more than 8 percent and expects to reach their limit within the next few days. The utilities retain 90 percent of the electric customer load in their respective regions and customers are stuck with no option; the Electric
Remonopolization Act of 2008 is proving to be a major failure for customers and a major win for the
utilities.” (full release)

Bill in works to raise electric-choice limits
(Crain's Detroit Business, December 7, 2009)
Businesses in Detroit Edison Co.'s territory that want to switch to alternate-electricity suppliers may soon find
themselves unable to do so.

Edison is nearing the 10 percent limit in a state cap that governs the amount of its customer load that can go to alternate suppliers, as of Friday reaching 8.6 percent.

Consumers Energy Co. reached its 10 percent limit in August and last week had 42 customers on a waiting list to participate in the electric-choice program. (full article)

First Refund Ordered Under New Electric Law
(Gongwer News Service, November 2, 2009)
The Public Service Commission ordered Consumers Energy to refund some $39.6 million annualized for
overcharging customers since May.

The commission found Monday (case No. U-15645) that Consumers could only increase its rates $139.4
million annually, less than the $215 million it had requested and the $179 million the utility increased its rates in May.

In addition to the rate refund, plus interest, the commission ordered Consumers to refund the remaining $73 million from the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant the commission had early found should belong to customers. Consumers already has refunded $36 million from that sale. (full article)

One year later, electric remonopolization laws a failure for Michigan - CCC Press Release
(October 27, 2009)
October marks the one year anniversary of the Michigan Electric Remonopolization Act, and Michigan residents are losing under the new laws. After eight years of Michigan's electric rates increasing by less than the national average, today our rates are climbing at lightning speed.

The Michigan Electric Remonopolization Act was a failure, and Michigan residents are paying the price,” said Barry Cargill, executive director of the Customer Choice Coalition. “Customers are paying more now than ever before. Detroit Edison residential customers are paying 20 percent, or $130, more this year and Consumers Energy customers are faced with a 9 percent increase at the cost of about $60 per year. Unfortunately, they're paying more and seeing nothing additional in return. Electric choice was capped at 10 percent of the utilities overall load, and that limit has already been reached in Consumers Energy territory. Now businesses are being told they cannot shop for competitive prices which could save jobs and ultimately keep business doors open." (full release)

Energy Use Chart
Comparison of Average Michigan Monthly Residential Electric Bills

Brown to propose higher power competition cap
(Gongwer News Service, October 27, 2009)
The market for competitive electric generators would be larger under legislation coming soon from Sen.Cameron Brown.

Consumers Energy already has reached the 10 percent cap on choice customers in its territory and Mr.Brown (R-Fawn River Twp.) and members of the Customer Choice Coalition said that cap on competition,enacted a year ago this month, has meant increased utility bills across the state.

While Mr. Brown indicated he would prefer to eliminate the cap, he said he would work with members of his chamber and others to find a larger proportion of competition that will be acceptable. (full article)

Group: Utility customers sold 'a bill of goods'
(Detroit Free Press, October 27, 2009)
Michigan utility customers are paying more for less a year after the state re-regulated theenergy market, advocates for more competition said at the Capitol this morning.

The group calling itself the Customer Choice Coalition said Michigan's residential utility rates haveskyrocketed in the year since the law went into effect, to the highest in the region. At the same time,very little progress has been made on energy efficiency or renewables, they said. (full article)

Customer Choice Coalition Pan Energy Reform Bill
(MIRS, October 27, 2009)
October marks the one-year anniversary of the electric reform law and the Customer Choice Coalition (CCC), which opposed the crafting of the bill at the time, took the time today to question the new law's worth. "The Michigan Electric Remonopolization Act was a failure, and Michigan residents are paying the price," said Barry CARGILL, executive director of the Customer Choice Coalition. "Customers are paying more now than ever before. Detroit Edison residential customers are paying 20 percent, or $130, more this year and Consumers Energy customers are faced with a 9 percent increase at the cost of about $60 per year. (full article)

Critics blame higher power bills on Michigan law
(Associated Press, October 27, 2009)
Residential customers are paying higher electric bills than they were a year ago, and critics say it's because of a Michigan law that limited competition in the power market.

Opponents of the law say Detroit Edison households are paying about $11 more a month than last October, a 20 percent hike. Consumers Energy households are paying about $5, or 9 percent more. The Customer Choice Coalition held a Capitol press conference Tuesday to urge eliminating or changing the law's 10 percent cap on competition.
(full article)

Group Says Energy Law isn't Working
(WLNS, October 27, 2009)
According to a watchdog group, a law that was passed more than a year ago to help electric customers in the state is failing. The customer choice coalition says the act was supposed to keep electric rates down, but now says customers are paying more than ever before. The group says the bill was also supposed to promise more renewable energy and tighter efficiency standards and after one year. No real progress has been made. (full article)

Plan would make Michigan customers pay more, in hopes they'll use less energy
(The Bay City Times, October 18, 2009)
Consumers Energy wants to charge you for using less electricity.

The company has filed a plan with the Michigan Public Service Commission to “decouple” the relationship between energy rates and use, and a ruling could come as soon as mid-November.

The idea is that the company is now encouraging people to use less electricity and natural gas through a
customer-funded energy efficiency program, so Consumers needs to begin to recover its fixed costs for providing power by putting a new charge on bills.

That new charge, which has yet to be determined, officials say, means you’ll pay a little bit more in fixed costs
every month on your energy bill. But the idea is that you’ll end up using less energy, so your total costs will go down. (full article)

Legislature is lost on electric policy
(Lansing State Journal, October 7, 2009)
Michigan residents are well-versed at this point in the budgetary ineptitude of their state legislators.

The state's leadership crisis, though, extends beyond the budget. An example: Two state representatives want Gov. Jennifer Granholm to get out of the way so two coal-fired power plants can be built - even though the power plants aren't needed.

That's the conclusion of the Public Service Commission staff. They looked over proposals to build coalfired
power plants near Rogers City and Essexville. Based on their analysis of Michigan's energy needs, the staff says the two plants aren't needed now. (full article)

Bipartisan group slams Granholm on power plants
(Gongwer News Service, October 6, 2009)
Unions, businesses and legislators from both parties, including Democratic leaders from both chambers,
called on Governor Jennifer Granholm to step back from her decision requiring new coal-fired electric power
plants to show not only that they meet emissions requirements, but that the power they produce will be
required.

House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) was particularly fervent in his call for the governor to retract
her policy of requiring the needs assessment for each plant. (full article)

Dillon Tells Power Plant Crowd: 'I Feel Betrayed'
(MIRS, October 6, 2009)
House Speaker Andy DILLON (D-Redford Twp.) told a crowd of around 1,500 skilled union tradesmen today that he "feels betrayed" over the state bureaucracy's decision to throw road blocks in the way of two proposed coal-fired plants only weeks after the Legislature passed bills to streamline the process.

The remarks are the furthest the Democratic leader has gone publicly in criticizing Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM administration's decision to require a special feasibility study on all power plant proposals brought before it. (full article)

Retail Electricity Suppliers Battle Utilities for Customers
(Wall Street Journal, August 31, 2009)
Consumers looking to take advantage of a sharp drop in U.S. power prices increasingly are turning to new suppliers.

The economic downturn, combined with a boom in natural gas output, has driven wholesale electricity prices sharply lower in the past year, inspiring an increasing number of recession-strapped households to shop around for cheaper rates. (full article)

Michigan legislature likely to take up 10% power shopping cap
(Restructuring Today, August 31, 2009)
A member of the Michigan State Senate Committee on Energy Policy told us last week that a new bill will likely be introduced “in the next couple of weeks” to change the 10% cap on shopping in the Wolverine State.

The topic is coming up with the 10% limit being reached in one territory and all but reached in the other.

Just about a year ago Michigan Gov Jennifer Granholm, D, signed energy legislation that had many pieces, including a provision that switching would be capped at 10%. The argument was made by Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy that they needed a certain amount of captive customers to justify, among other things, building new generation.
(full article)

For Michigan consumers, will navigating utilities' complex energy savings plans be a win or waste?
(Grand Rapids Press, August 30, 2009)
Consumers hit by new "energy optimization" surcharges now have a chance to get back some of the money they are paying to utilities -- and cut their monthly bills in the process.

Consumers Energy and DTE Energy and its MichCon unit recently began rolling out rebate, recycling and
discount programs to be financed by the surcharge that began appearing on bills in June.

Offers range from 99-cent energy-saving light bulbs to a $350 rebate for installing a high-efficiency furnace.
(full article)

Business groups want electric choice revisited
(Grand Rapids Business Journal, August 26, 2009)
Business groups are calling for changes in a 10-month-old state energy law after the market available to nonutility electricity providers in West Michigan was capped to new customers.

Jackson-based Consumers Energy Co. notified state regulators earlier this month that the 10-percent share ofthe market available to alternative electricity providers had been exhausted. Utilities are guaranteed at least 90percent of Michigan's electric market as part of the green-energy legislation signed last October. (full article)

Cargill: State paying price for retreating on electric choice (Op-ed)
(Lansing State Journal, August 26, 2009)
Americans know what happens when government sets prices and takes away competitive choices.

It gets them wrong.So it is no surprise to learn ten months after Michigan state government decided it would set prices forelectricity, it's got it wrong.

The Michigan economy - and families - are paying the price in the form of$600 million in higher electric bills, despite steep declines in electricity demand. (full article)

Power to choose: Businesses find new electricityproviders;
Consumers says alternative providertotal is maxed out
(Jackson Citizen Patriot, August 23, 2009)
Rising energy costs are causing local businesses to find innovative ways to trim their electric bills, and thatincludes buying their power from a source other than Consumers Energy.

In recent months, TAC Manufacturing and Industrial Steel Treating made the switch to alternative providers andaway from the Jackson-based utility.

"Certainly we want to support the home team, and CMS doesn't get any more home than Jackson, but wecouldn't afford not to take advantage of the savings," said Industrial Steel Treating President Tim Levy.
(full article)

Alternate-energy cap back in spotlight
(Crain's Detroit Business, August 23, 2009)
Less than a year after Michigan energy legislationpassed, the battle is warming again over the ability of businessesto purchase from alternate electricity suppliers.

Word that Consumers Energy Co. has reached the 10 percentlimit on the amount of its customer load that can go to alternatesuppliers sent press releases flying last week and choiceadvocates calling for raising or eliminating the cap that wasestablished under 2008 energy laws. (full article)

Electricity prices plummet around the U.S. – but rise in Michigan (CCC Press Release)
(August 18, 2009)
As electric rates around the Midwest and nation drop dramatically in response to lower demand, Michigan businesses and families are paying record high rates due to the Legislature’s passage of electric remonopolization legislation last year. Now a key lawmaker says it’s time to raise the cap on electric competition, to help Michigan businesses survive the current recession.

Supporters of that legislation said competition would continue because they allowed 10 percent of each major utility’s load to move to competitive companies. But last week, Consumers Energy notified Michigan businesses that the 10 percent cap had been reached, and that additional companies seeking to flee the high rates in Consumers Power territory are out of luck for 2009. (full release)

Keep an eye on your rising electric bill
(Grand Rapids Press, July 19, 2009)
My June electric bill was high, even though our house used less electricity than last year.

Maybe, I thought, it's the new "energy optimization surcharge" that comes with the state's 2008 green-energy law. You know, an extra charge to make us more energy wise.

But no, that was just an extra 58 cents.

Instead, I discovered Consumers Energy had raised my rate 7 percent. It pushed up my cost $4.73 on a bill for just 407 kilowatts. (full article)

Electric, natural gas 'energy optimization charge' is a jolt to small businesses
(Grand Rapids Press, June 11, 2009)
Bruce Helder's small factory just got hit with a 52 percent increase in its electric bill.

As of June 1, some Consumers Energy customers who use more than 5,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per
month will pay a $422.23 monthly "energy optimization surcharge."

Small factories such as Helder's Bara Technologies Inc., 3714 Jefferson Ave. SE, will pay the same $5,066.76
annual fee as larger customers -- unless the Michigan Public Service Commission and Consumers Energy make good on promises of a change.
(full article)

Businesses suffer with rate increases
(Jackson Citzen Patriot, May 17, 2009)
State regulators gave a break to Consumers Energy's residential customers last week, ordering the utility
to trim an electricity rate increase just before it took effect Thursday.
(full article)

Letter: Say no to Consumers Energy plan
(Grand Rapids Press, May 15, 2009)
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is about to make a decision on whether the approve the renewable
energy plan submitted by Consumers Energy pursuant to the clean energy legislation passed last year by
the state legislature. The PSC should say no to Consumers' pathetic plan.
(full article)

Electric rates going up as usage declines
(Kalamazoo Gazette, May 6, 2009)
Just a few months ago, the Customer Choice Coalition warned Michigan lawmakers the utility-sponsored
effort to rewrite Michigan's electric laws was a huge mistake -- one that would increase Michigan's
already high electric rates, force customers to pay for construction of unneeded new electric plants
and provide only a small amount of renewable power, at unnecessarily high prices to consumers.
(full article)

Michigan’s new pro-monopoly energy law claims another victim
(Press Release, May 1, 2009)
LS Energy today announced it is scrapping plans to build a major new electric plant in the Midland area,
citing as its first reason “last year’s energy legislation in Michigan restricting the available customers for
the project.” Michigan’s new energy policy limits competitors to just 10 percent of the electric market.
The Customer Choice Coalition warned that passage of the bill would signal energy companies from
around the world that it would be very difficult to serve Michigan families and businesses. (full article)

Editorial: Wrong time for rate hikes
(Grand Rapids Press, April 2, 2009)
Michigan is mired in an economic downturn with the highest unemployment in 25 years.
This is not the time to hit already struggling families with a double-digit rate hike. In the midst of the
economic pain and hardship residents are enduring, such an increase would be unconscionable. Michigan's
Michigan's Public Service Commission (PSC) should do as its name implies -- serve the public -- by pulling
the plug on increases. (full article)

Editorial: Consumers will pay costs of going green
(Detroit News, March 24, 2009)
The electricity rate hikes pending before state regulators are the result of a number of factors. A
price hike would come regardless of the cost of meeting environmental mandates. But those
mandates do add to the increase, in one case by about one-third. A public that wants carbon
dioxide removed from the air must be prepared to pay for it.

Consumers Energy is seeking a rate hike totaling $215 million; Detroit Edison is seeking $378
million. The average residential customer's electricity bill would increase 11 percent. And there will
be more hikes to come in the service of greening the environment. (full article)

Electric bills may jump 11% this year
(Detroit News, March 23, 2009)
Michigan's two biggest utility companies could hit their electric customers with double-digit rate
hikes, just as the state is gripped with its highest unemployment in 25 years.

Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy have proposed rate hikes that would increase the average
residential customer's electric bill by 11 percent. Both requests are pending approval by the state.
DTE's increase would take effect in July; Consumers wants higher rates starting in May. (full article)

Michigan's utilities seek double-digit rate hikes
(Associated Press, March 22, 2009)
Unless state regulators step in, Michigan's two major utilities may raise residential electric bills by double-digit percentages just as many customers are losing their jobs or having an ever-harder time paying their bills.

The typical Consumers Energy household could pay 11 percent more starting in May, adding $10 to their
monthly bill and $125 annually. (full article)

Skyrocketing rates caused by new utilities monopoly (Op-ed)
(Oakland Press, March 3, 2009)
Just a few months ago, the Customer Choice Coalition warned Michigan lawmakers the utility-sponsored effort to rewriteMichigan’s electric laws was a huge mistake — one that would increase Michigan’s already high electric rates, force customers topay for construction of unneeded new electric plants and provide only a small amount of renewable power, at unnecessarily highprices to consumers.

Now those predictions are coming true. For the first eight years of this decade, Michigan’s competitive electric system helpeddrive electric rates down and generated construction of 4,000 megawatts of new electric capacity built in our state, increasingreliability. (full article)

Jackson-based CMS Energy reports net income of $289 million in 2008
(Jackson Citizen Patriot, February 25, 2009)
After losing more than a quarter billion dollars in 2007, CMS Energy was back in the black in 2008, reporting
a net income of $289 million this morning.

It has been four years since the Jackson-based company reported positive annual earnings.

It reported a net losses of $227 million in 2007, $90 million in 2006 and $94 million in 2005.

In 2004, CMS reported a net income of $110 million. (full article)

Update: Jackson-based CMS Energy reports net income of $289 million in 2008
(Jackson Citizen Patriot, February 26, 2009)
After losing more than a quarter billion dollars in 2007, CMS Energy was back in the black in 2008, reporting
a net income of $289 million Wednesday morning.

It has been four years since the Jackson-based company reported positive annual earnings.

It reported net losses of $227 million in 2007, $90 million in 2006 and $94 million in 2005. (full article)

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