New Michigan Bill Would Allow Some Industrial Customers To Take Retail Choice, Regardless Of 10% Cap

A new bill, Senate Bill 0695, has been introduced in the Michigan Senate which would allow some industrial customers to take service from a competitive retail electric supplier, regardless of the status of the 10% choice cap

The bill provides that, "Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an eligible industrial customer may purchase electricity from an alternative electric supplier, regardless of whether the sales exceed 10% of the serving electric utility's average weather-adjusted retail sales, if the eligible industrial customer enters into a power supply contract with an alternative electric supplier that, for a duration no less than 3 years, provides capacity for a minimum 80% of the eligible industrial customer's projected annual peak load contribution value from a resource located within the same local resource zone or locational deliverability area in which the eligible industrial customer is located and agrees to provide a minimum of 5 years' notice before returning to full utility service."

"Eligible industrial customer" under the bills means, "new industrial buildings and facilities, existing industrial buildings and facilities that require the installation, replacement, or upgrade of distribution facilities due to planned physical modifications or a substantial increase in electric load, or existing industrial buildings and facilities with a peak electric load of 2,000 kilowatts or more."

In a statement provided to the media, Consumers Energy said that the bill would risk reliability, and stated, "One only needs to look at experiences of states, such as Texas and California, that have deregulated their electric service to see the challenges in reliability and how deregulation will almost certainly result in higher-costs for Michiganders."