JACKSON – Consumers Energy agreed to pay a $1 million fine and take other steps to improve its performance after the Michigan Public Service Commission investigated complaints about malfunctioning electric meters, violations of rules on estimated billing, and significant delays in providing new electric and gas service.
The Commission in October directed Consumers Energy to show cause why it shouldn’t be held in violation of MPSC rules governing billing and service quality and reliability. Commissioners learned about the issues from Consumers customers who attended a town hall hearing the MPSC held in Jackson in March 2023 to take public comment from those impacted by power outages that winter.
MPSC Customer Assistance Division Staff members also took complaints from customers about the broken electric meters, extended billing cycles with excessively high estimated electric use, and lengthy delays in providing new electric and gas service hookups for customers.
The meter issue arose as Consumers transitioned its advanced metering infrastructure electric meters from now-obsolete 3G cellular phone service to 4G-based meters. MPSC Staff investigating the issue found that, owing to supply and staffing constraints, Consumers couldn’t meet its expected timeframe to replace the older meters but neglected to notify the MPSC about the delays and service issues.
MPSC Staff also learned that Consumers was estimating electric bills for many customers with 3G meters even before cellular phone companies discontinued operating 3G service in January 2023 because the meters were not working and showing blank screens. That meant neither Consumers nor its customers could determine actual readings from the meters.
“It is a fundamental job for a utility to measure the amount of electricity used and then accurately bill their customers,” Commissioner Katherine Peretick said. “There was a clear and obvious failure here, and this $1 million fine and the corrective actions required in the settlement agreement will hopefully ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
The MPSC also investigated complaints from customers about delays in establishing new service, in violation of standards requiring 90% of new service installations to be completed within 15 days. I’m
Consumers acknowledged the customer service problems and did not contest MPSC Staff’s enforcement recommendations. The utility said it would focus instead on rectifying the problems and working to ensure they don’t happen again.
