LANSING – The Public Service Commission has approved a voluntary renewable energy pilot program for DTE Electric Company allowing program participants to obtain a larger amount of renewable energy than the 10 percent mandated by the state’s 2008 energy law.
The new program will be limited to an additional 150,000 megawatt-hours of generation from company-owned solar and wind facilities, a statement by the PSC said in a statement. Program participants would remain on their current tariffed rate and pay an additional subscription fee, fixed for the life of the program, of $0.072 per kWh of usage subscribed for the billing period.
Participants would also receive an energy and capacity credit calculated based on their usage and subscription level for the same period.
However, the PSC noted in its approval (case U-18076) that its approval of the pilot program does not constitute an endorsement or approval of DTE Electric’s method for computing the value of renewable energy.
PRESQUE ISLE ELECTRIC AND GAS CO-OP: The commission approved a settlement agreement authorizing the co-op to adjust its times interest earned ratio for the 12-month period that ended December 31, 2015 to 2.46 and to reduce rates by $560,609 (case U-18059).
Residential natural gas customers using 100 ccf of natural gas will see a decrease of $8.02 on their monthly bills, beginning with the next billing period.
In addition, under the terms of the settlement, the cooperative will decrease its regulated cost monthly charge adder from $1.90 to 89 cents, effective with the next billing month, for natural gas customers in Hillman and Allis Township.
DETROIT THERMAL, LLC: The PSC also approved a settlement agreement authorizing this company to increase its rates for steam service by $4.99 million and revise its overall rate design.
Rates will be restructured by creating four classes of service, the PSC said. Customers will be assigned an applicable rate class based on the simple average of a particular customer’s prior 36 months of steam consumption. (case U-18131).
Under the terms of the settlement, Detroit Thermal will not seek to file another general rate case for five years, except if its rate of return on common equity falls below 10 percent at any time during the five-year period.
SEMCO ENERGY GAS COMPANY: Finally, the commission also approved a settlement agreement authorizing the company to implement a gas cost recovery factor of roughly $3.56 per dekatherm for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2017, as well as a balancing and demand charge of $0.7982 per Dth (case U-17942).
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