Michigan Public Service Commission

The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has denied requests to modify its newly instituted retail wheeling experiment (see 161 PUR4th 441). However, the PSC did clarify its ruling to permit a form of "self-service" wheeling by the Dow Chemical Co. (em a limited partner, along with Consumers Power Co., in the Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV). Dow had asked the PSC for an exemption from restrictions on participation by utility affiliates as third-party providers in their own service territory.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has directed the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) to expand its deregulation of telecommunications markets in compliance with a 1991 state law revamping telecommunications. It said that the PSC had defined too broadly which types of services should remain regulated under the 1991 law, the Michigan Telecommunications Act (MTAct).

The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has reaffirmed its earlier approval of special manufacturing contracts submitted by Detroit Edison Co. to supply power to Chrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co., and General Motors Corp. Opponents had argued that the PSC erred by approving the price discounts while deferring consideration of their rate treatment as well as their effect on existing competitive programs.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has set rates and charges for delivery service for a five-year experimental retail wheeling program involving Detroit Edison Co. (DE) and Consumers Power Co. (CP). The program will be implemented the next time the utilities solicit new capacity (Case No. U-10143/10176). The ruling follows an April 11, 1994, PSC order approving the framework for the retail wheeling experiment. The rates pertain to industrial customers with 5 megawatts of retail delivery capacity that use about 3 million kilowatt-hours (Kwh) of electricity per month.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) will allow MFS Intelenet of Michigan to compete with Ameritech Michigan in the Detroit and Ann Arbor area exchanges. The PSC said state telecommunications law supports competition and that the applicant was qualified to enter the business. It rejected claims that the certificate should be denied due to concerns over possible cross-subsidization between the applicant and its holding company, MFS Communications Co. According to the PSC, consumers were well protected from such abuses under existing regulations.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has rejected allegations that flexibly priced tariffs for electric service are unlawfully discriminatory under state law. The ruling opens the way for Consumers Power Co. to impose a new Special Competitive Services (SACS) tariff. The new SACS rate would allow Consumers to negotiate onpeak billing demand and energy charges within a range of rates for customers with a less expensive alternative energy source.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has warned Consumers Power Co., an electric utility, that the utility may only take more power from its affiliated Midland Cogeneration Venture (a qualifying cogeneration facility) through a competitively bid capacity solicitation.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved terms for interconnection and mutual compensation between Ameritech Michigan, a dominant local exchange carrier (LEC), and City Signal, Inc., a newly certificated competitive provider of LEC services. The move marks another step in the PSC's experiment with local telephone competition in the Grand Rapids exchange.

As evidence of a continuing trend toward competition in the retail market for natural gas, state regulators point to the continued popularity of special discount rates. Designed to allow local distribution companies (LDCs) to retain existing customers, these rates are often approved despite concerns about the costs and their effect on other customers.

The Delaware Public Service Commission (PSC), for one, recently approved a proposal from Delmarva Power & Light Co.