LANSING - The Michigan Public Service Commission on Tuesday began proceedings to establish updated avoided costs for rate-regulated electric utilities under a federal law, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, which allows certain small power producers to sell their electricity to utilities. In the case (case U-18089), the PSC had ordered last October that its
LANSING - Hard-knuckle politics has once again thwarted efforts to allow voters to cast an in-person absentee ballot despite a request from Governor Rick Snyder in January that it be sent to his desk as soon as possible. The bill (HB 4724) would end the limit on casting an absentee ballot to those 60 and
LANSING - Computer coding would not be considered a language, but would be an option toward graduation under legislation under discussion in the Michigan House Workforce and Talent Development Committee. Under the H-1 substitute adopted Thursday, the bill (HB 5463) would merge coding, world languages and arts into 21st Century skills, and the Michigan Merit
LANSING - The Michigan Senate Energy and Technology Committee kicked off testimony from interested stakeholders on its proposal for Michigan's energy policies and regulations, but despite an immense amount of changes made over the past six months, most of the same people either liked or disliked the bills. DTE Energy CEO Gerry Anderson was the
LANSING - The majority of the state's jobs currently require no more than a high school diploma, but that will change in the coming years, a report by Business Leaders for Michigan said. The report also said that average salaries for those lower skilled jobs are about half those for jobs requiring at least a
LANSING - The Michigan House on Wednesday approved its budget for state agencies with an additional $500,000 to address staffing shortfalls at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans and the possibility of slight funding increases if a solution is found on auto insurance credits taking up $80 million of the state's budget. HB 5294 passed
LANSING - A request for a proposal on construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor will be issued soon, attendees at a forum on the proposed bridge were told Wednesday, with the selection of the project winner expected perhaps a year after that. But with projected of construction of the bridge
LANSING - The Michigan Public Service Commission on Thursday approved a settlement authorizing Consumers Energy Company to increase its natural gas rates by $40 million annually, though that is $20 million below what the utility self-implemented in January, the PSC said. A future reconciliation proceeding will determine the amount to be refunded to customers, plus
LANSING - The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality would be required to notify local users of a water system about a tier II violation within two business days - a change from the 30-day window currently required - under a bill taken up in the House Government Operations Committee on Thursday. Under HB 5120, sponsored
LANSING - The state's unemployment system, already under heavy scrutiny from a pair of lawsuits and the subject of legislation to make major changes, suffered another blow Thursday with an audit sharply critical of its much criticized automated fraud detection system. Several of those cited for fraudulently claiming unemployment benefits have said the Unemployment Insurance
