LANSING – The Public Service Commission on Thursday proposed a funding factor of 91 cents per meter per month as its first annual income energy assistance funding factor for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund created by law earlier this month.

The factor was based on the assumption that all utilities that have filed nothing yet with the commission will opt into the program, as the law (PA 95 of 2013) allows for utilities to opt in or opt out of the fee. The fund is created within the Department of Treasury.

The funding factor is a non-bypassable surcharge to be added to each retail billing meter (but no more than one residential meter per residential site), payable monthly by every customer receiving retail distribution service from an electric utility, the commission said. The factor is the same across all customer classes, appears as a separate line item on a customer’s bill and will not exceed $1.

“We’re real thankful for (the law) because we were hoping for a long-term solution,” PSC Chair John Quackenbush said in a recent interview, adding that previous funds with similar intentions were usually temporary fixes to the problem of low-income energy assistance.

The following have elected to opt-out of the program: Upper Peninsula Power Company, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, Wisconsin Electric Power Company, (We Energies), Alpena Power Company, Cloverland Electric Cooperative, Great Lakes Energy Cooperative, and Ontonagon County Rural Electrification Association.

Only Northern States Power Company and DTE Electric Company have filed notice of their intent to participate.

By law, the commission must approve a factor no later than July 31 of each year for the subsequent fiscal year, which put extra strain on the PSC since Governor Rick Snyder just signed the law on July 1. A public comment period on the factor, which the commission said may rise or fall slightly based on yet-to-be submitted data, will take place through July 24.

Comments, whether written or electronic, must be submitted to the commission no later than 5 p.m. on July 24. The commission also said comments should reference Case No. U-17377, and written comments should be mailed to: Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909. Electronic comments should be e-mailed to [email protected]. All information submitted to the commission will become public information available on the commission’s website and subject to disclosure.

DETROIT PUBLIC LIGHTING: The commission also granted to DTE Electric Company the accounting authority related to the transition of the Detroit Public Lighting Department’s customers.

The Detroit Public Lighting Department is comprised of 139 square miles serving 115 retail electric customers and 88,000 street lights, but the order by the commission does not address street lighting assets.

In its filing, the company noted that there will be a five- to seven-year system conversion period when former Public Lighting Department’s customers will be directly connected to the DTE Electric distribution system. The distribution system conversion is expected to cost $275 million. In addition, the company estimates it will cost $40 million to make customer facility improvements, the commission said.

GRAND RAPIDS ENERGY: The commission on Thursday also granted a license to Grand Rapids Energy as an alternative gas supplier, determining that doing so may expand opportunities for competition.

The company, which has established a Michigan office in Lansing, applied for a license to operate as an alternative gas supplier on March 12.

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