LANSING – The Michigan Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved two settlement agreements authorizing Michigan Gas Utilities Corporation to reconcile two mechanism related to over-collections, meaning some residents will see a decrease of $1.42 on a their monthly bill.

In one instance (Case U-17547), the utility experienced a net over-collection of $475,905. So customers using 100 ccf of gas per month will see a decrease of 89 cents on their monthly bill effective September 1 through August 2015, the PSC said.

And in another case with the utility (Case U-17548), it was authorized to refund to customers $879,285 on a service rendered basis beginning September 1 through August 31, 2015. That means a residential customer using 100 ccf of gas a month will see a decrease of 52 cents on their monthly bill.

UPPER PENINSULA POWER COMPANY: Similarly, the Upper Peninsula Power Company experienced a gross revenue decoupling mechanism (RDM) under-recovery of $619,580 in 2013 (Case U-17555) and a revenue shortfall of $71,247 in connection with its 2010 RDM reconciliation, meaning an increase is coming to some of its customers.

Effective January 1, 2015, through December 32, 2015, the utility is therefore authorized to implement a surcharge, resulting in an increase of 56 cents per month on the monthly bill of customers using 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month.

And in a separate case involving the utility (Case U-17605), those same customers will see a 5-cent increase on their monthly bill for service rendered on and after August 1.

PUBLIC COMMENT ON TELECOM RELAY SERVICE: The PSC on Tuesday also opened a docket into the status of Michigan’s Telecommunications Relay Service for persons with hearing and/or speech disabilities, including deaf persons, to place and receive phone calls.

“Most of Michigan’s telecommunications providers and countless speech- or hearing-impaired customers depend on this service,” said PSC Chair John Quackenbush in a statement. “The Commission is deeply concerned about recently proposed changes, and that is why we are launching an investigation and seeking public comment.”

Persons may write and email comments with the Commission no later than Aug. 7. Reply comments may be filed with the Commission no later than August 28 and should reference case U-17655. Written comments should be sent to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909. Comments may also be emailed to [email protected].

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