Consumers Energy Wants to Increase Their Rates Again

Remember back in April when we talked about Consumers Energy charging 1.5 times the normal rate this summer?

They said it would be from 2:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday because we use more electricity in the summer than in the winter.

Yeah, the time you need it the most because it's prime sun time and you turned the oven on to cook yourself some dinner and now it feels like you're cooking inside a furnace. Well, I hate to say it, but they're trying to bump that up even more.

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Consumers Energy Proposes Another Increase

Attorney General Dana Nessel is trying to stop another rate increase of 8.8% for Consumer Energy customers. According to WILX, after factoring in the summer spike, the company brings in more than $30M in "excess revenue.”

They have several reasons for wanting to increase their rates again such as strengthening the grid, helping the state's clean energy transformation and more.

You can read more on WILX's website.

DTE Trying to Follow Suit

At the beginning of June, AG Dana Nessel was fighting to keep our bills affordable after receiving a request for a $195 million increase from DTE Gas Co.

She said that the increase would be unnecessary, excessive and didn't want Michiganders to be blind sided with a high utility bill.

Which I'm thankful for because my utility bill is always ridiculously high in the summer.

We also just went through a pandemic where people were already struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. These increases would only make it more difficult for those of us who live paycheck to paycheck.

We've experienced some pretty hot days already this summer. Do you remember when Lansing hit 103 in 2012?

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.