In re Detroit Edison Co.

296 Mich. App. 101
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 10, 2012
DocketDocket Nos. 296374 and 296379
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 296 Mich. App. 101 (In re Detroit Edison Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Detroit Edison Co., 296 Mich. App. 101 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

Saad, J.

In these consolidated appeals, appellants, the Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity (ABATE) and the Attorney General, appeal the January [105]*10511, 2010, opinion and order of the Public Service Commission (PSC). For the reasons set forth, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

The PSC’s opinion and order contains the following statement of facts:

On January 5,2009, The Detroit Edison Company... filed an application in Case No. U-15751 requesting authority to realign retail electric rates for Michigan educational institutions in accordance with the requirements of Section 11(4) of 2008 PA 286 (Act 286) [MCL 460.11(4)]. Detroit Edison stated that realigning rates for educational institutions necessarily shifts revenues to other customer classes. In its application, Detroit Edison requested to immediately implement surcharges to recover that revenue shift, or in the alternative, that the Commission authorize surcharges to recover that revenue shift, or in the alternative, that the Commission authorize establishment of a regulatory asset to account for the revenue shift.1
On January 26, 2009, Detroit Edison filed an application in Case No. U-15768 requesting a $378 million rate increase above the retail electric base rates established in the December 23, 2008 and January 13, 2009 orders in Case No. U-15244 and pursuant to various special contracts approved by the Commission. Detroit Edison asserted that its request for rate relief was based on July 2009 through June 2010 test year data that establishes a need for additional revenue to cover environmental compliance costs; the costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the company’s electric distribution system and generation plants; the costs associated with customer uncollectible accounts; the costs associated with inflation; the capital costs associated with the addition of plant; and to recognize the reduction in territory sales.
In addition, Detroit Edison requested that the Commission continue the company’s choice incentive mechanism [106]*106(CIM), its storm restoration expense recovery mechanism, and the line clearance expense recovery mechanism, with some modifications. Detroit Edison also requested Commission authorization to implement an uncollectible expense true-up [or tracking] mechanism (UETM), and requested that the Commission approve a revenue decoupling mechanism (RDM) proposed by the company. Detroit Edison requested that the Commission approve its proposal to amend or extend certain retail electric rate schedules, including its economic development tariff.
According to Detroit Edison, under its current rate structure, full-service commercial and industrial (C&I) customers pay rates that are in excess of their cost of service while residential customers pay rates that are less than their cost of service. Detroit Edison notes that the Commission addressed this inequity in its December 23, 2008 order in Case No. U-15244, by ordering an immediate partial realignment of residential rates and by ordering annual rate realignments over a period of five years. Detroit Edison states that the rates proposed in this filing reflect the realignment ordered by the Commission for 2008.

Ultimately, the PSC issued an opinion and order that authorized Detroit Edison to adopt an RDM, allowed Detroit Edison to include $39,858,000 in funding for the Low-Income and Energy Efficiency Fund (LIEEF) as an operation and maintenance expense, approved four single cost tracking mechanisms intended to adjust future rates to make up for any difference between the amount for a particular item included in base rates and the actual cost experienced by the utility, and approved [107]*107funding for Detroit Edison to pursue a plan to upgrade its meters. ABATE also challenges the PSC’s decision to change its methodology for calculating the peak-demand component for purposes of allocating production-related and transmission costs to customer classes in accord with a statutory formula.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

As this Court explained in In re Application of Michigan Consol Gas Co to Increase Rates, 293 Mich App 360, 365; 810 NW2d 123 (2011):

All rates, fares, charges, classifications, joint rates, regulations, practices, and services prescribed by the PSC are presumed prima facie to be lawful and reasonable. MCL 462.25; see also Mich Consol Gas Co v Pub Serv Comm, 389 Mich 624, 635-636; 209 NW2d 210 (1973). A party aggrieved by an order of the PSC has the burden of showing by clear and satisfactory evidence that the order is unlawful or unreasonable. MCL 462.26(8). To establish that a PSC order is unlawful, the appellant must show that the PSC failed to follow a statutory requirement or abused its discretion in the exercise of its judgment. In re MCI Telecom Complaint, 460 Mich 396, 427; 596 NW2d 164 (1999).
A final order of the PSC must be authorized by law and supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record. Const 1963, art 6, § 28; In re Consumers Energy Co, 279 Mich App 180, 188; 756 NW2d 253 (2008). A reviewing court gives due deference to the PSC’s administrative expertise and is not to substitute its judgment for that of the PSC. Attorney General v Pub Serv Comm No 2, 237 Mich App 82, 88; 602 NW2d 225 (1999).
Issues of statutory interpretation are reviewed de novo. In re Complaint of Rovas Against SBC Mich, 482 Mich 90, 102; 754 NW2d 259 (2008). A reviewing court should give an administrative agency’s interpretation of statutes it is obliged to execute respectful consideration, but not deference. Id. at 108.
[108]*108Whether the PSC exceeded the scope of its authority is a question of law that is reviewed de novo. In re Complaint of Pelland Against Ameritech Mich, 254 Mich App 675, 682; 658 NW2d 849 (2003).

III. RATE DECOUPLING MECHANISM

We hold that the PSC exceeded its statutorily granted authority when it authorized Detroit Edison to adopt an RDM.

For purposes of this appeal, appellants do not dispute the policy objectives or expected consequences of Detroit Edison’s adoption of an RDM, nor is it the judiciary’s province to examine them. Rather, appellants correctly take issue with the PSC’s authority to authorize the RDM in the first instance. Appellants point to the obvious differences in statutes addressing the use of RDMs for gas and electric utilities and reason, correctly in our view, that those differences mean that the PSC has authority to direct or approve the use of RDMs only in connection with gas utilities, not electric.

MCL 460.1089(6) states:

The commission shall authorize a natural gas provider that spends a minimum of 0.5% of total natural gas retail sales revenues, including natural gas commodity costs, in a year on commission-approved energy optimization programs to implement a symmetrical revenue decoupling true-up mechanism that adjusts for sales volumes that are above or below the projected levels that were used to determine the revenue requirement authorized in the natural gas provider’s most recent rate case.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
296 Mich. App. 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-detroit-edison-co-michctapp-2012.