U.P. power company withdraws ask to sidestep some outage credit rules

A power company serving a rugged swath of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has yanked a request to be excused from state rules over how it issues required billing credits to customers who repeatedly find themselves in the dark.

On June 20, Marquette-based Upper Peninsula Power Co. requested to withdraw its earlier ask for a permanent waiver from a portion of the state’s regulations that require automatic credits be issued if a customer experiences six or more power interruptions over a 12-month period.

Following mounting frustration over prolonged blackouts from the state’s utilities, Michigan regulators in 2023 tweaked the rules to up the amount of the outage credits, now set at $38, and make them automatic, rather than requiring customers to contact their utility to ask for them.

UPPCO wanted permission to count multiple potential outages as a single outage during “catastrophic conditions” when a significant portion of its customers are without power due to extreme weather like heavy snow or powerful storms, according to legal filings it submitted to the Michigan Public Service Commission.

It sought the limited waiver “due to the rural and heavily wooded nature of the company’s service territory,” which involves long circuits exposed to tree cover, ice and snow, all leading to more potential for outages along the lines, company officials testified. The utility serves 10 counties north of the Mackinac Bridge.

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Further, a software system used to track outages could over-report the interruptions during the bad weather events, even in situations where customers only experienced a single outage, according to UPPCO filings.

Following the request, first submitted in February, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel intervened in the proceedings, saying she found the ask unreasonable and unnecessary. The proposal would have resulted in fewer repetitive outage credits being issued, she said.

“While I am glad that UPPCO has withdrawn its request, I remain deeply concerned about the company’s compliance with the outage credits rules,” Nessel said in a released statement on Monday, June 24. The attorney general has advocated for more compensation for customers who suffer prolonged or repeated outages and intervened in requests from other Michigan utilities to skirt the rules.

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An UPPCO spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment sent on Tuesday, June 25 and a voicemail left on Wednesday, June 26.

In its request to voluntarily withdraw the waiver ask, the company said it now has determined its software systems can be modified to ensure full compliance with the outage credit rules. Further, it found the cost of pursuing the waiver wasn’t economic when compared to the cost of issuing credits based on data that might overcount service interruptions.

UPPCO will be in “full compliance” with the rule, and the waiver isn’t necessary, an attorney for the company wrote.

Nessel is continuing to push state regulators for more scrutiny.

She has requested that Public Service Commission staff make sure UPPCO has processes in place to evaluate all outages eligible for the billing credits and ensure they are issued in a timely manner.

During the attorney general’s review “reasonable doubts” arose as to whether the company has issued the credits within 90 days of qualifying outages, as the rules require, according to Nessel’s office.

She wants regulators to evaluate whether that has happened since the new rules went into effect in April 2023 and ensure it happens in the future.

“As the state regulator of UPPCO, the Michigan Public Service Commission must carefully oversee the company’s adherence, and all audit results should be made public. If UPPCO fails to issue bill credits in a timely manner, they must compensate affected customers,” Nessel said. “Just as UPPCO charges late fees on customers for overdue bills, the company should face consequences for failing to issue the legally required outage credits on time.”