MPSC podcast talks improving electric reliability and energy affordability for Michiganders

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The MPSC's latest Behind the Meter podcast highlights continuing improvements in electric reliability at Michigan's two largest utilities and details how the Commission's ongoing work is keeping energy costs more affordable for customers.

The podcast features host Mike Byrne, the MPSC's chief operating officer, along with Chair Dan Scripps and Commissioners Katherine Peretick and Shaquila Myers. They explore encouraging signs of real progress for DTE Electric Co. and Consumers Energy Co. after decades of poor performance, and how the MPSC has worked to keep rates reasonable as the utilities increase investments to boost grid reliability and resilience.

Improving electric reliability has been an intense focus for the Commission in recent years after decades of poor performance by the utilities. The Commission's groundwork - including a first-ever independent third-party audit of DTE Electric and Consumers Energy's distribution systems, approved funding for more frequent tree-trimming cycles, and investments to upgrade an aging system, and more - is now showing results.

The podcast explores how:

• Between 2019 and 2024, Michigan bested all other states in reducing annual outages, shaving off nearly an hour per customer, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
• DTE Electric hit the top quartile among electric utilities around the country in 2025, for the first time in more than 20 years, for restoring customers experiencing outages in all weather conditions, lowering customer outage times 60% compared to 2024. That came after the utility reported a 70% reduction in the amount of time customers were without power from 2023 to 2024.
• Consumers Energy's average customer experienced 21 fewer power outage minutes in 2024 compared to 2023, and more than 93% of its customers experiencing power outages had their power restored in less than 24 hours in 2024 including major weather events, up from 87% in 2023.
• Michiganders' actual household energy costs are lower than you might think. Michigan ranked 18^th among all states and the District of Columbia for household energy costs. On electric bills alone, Michiganders' average monthly electric bill in 2024 was $119.31, nearly $23 dollars below the national average of $142.16, and lower than two neighboring states: Ohio ($135.16) and Indiana ($133.06), according EIA data. Customer energy bills, not rates per kilowatt hour alone, are more reflective of the impact of energy costs.
• As inflation around the country has been an area of increasing public concern, increasing 22.5% between 2020 and 2025, average residential bill growth in Michigan from Commission-approved rate case orders was 5.3% lower than the overall rate of inflation during that time period, reflecting the Commission's continued focus on affordability for Michigan customers.

Michigan is turning a corner on reliability while keeping customer energy bills in check, defying the old narrative about the state's electricity being costly and unreliable.

"We still have a long way to go," Chair Scripps acknowledges in the podcast. "But it's also true that since 2019, no state has increased reliability performance more than Michigan. We've taken about an hour of outages out of the system over the last couple of years, and that's better than any other state in the country."

About the MPSC'S Behind the Meter podcast

The MPSC's Behind the Meter podcast explores important energy and telecommunications issues, from utility rate cases and Michigan's energy transition to efforts to expand broadband and boost electric reliability. Episodes feature guests including MPSC Commissioners, MPSC Staff, and outside experts in various fields in energy and telecommunications. Behind the Meter episodes are available on the MPSC's website and on major podcast platforms.

The MPSC serves as an expert, impartial regulator committed to consumer protection, fairness and transparency. For information about the MPSC, visit www.michigan.gov/mpsc, sign up for its monthly newsletter or other listservs. Follow the MPSC on Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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