WattWatch/All Michigan utilities
Investor-owned utility
Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation
UMERC rates rose 5% since 2019 — the average bill went from $83 to $83 a month.
Computed as revenue ÷ sales from UMERC’s own EIA-861 filings, 2019–2024. Not adjusted for inflation. See where that ranks.
The Michigan Public Service Commission sets your rates
Rate changes go through a public docket. Filings, hearing dates, and comment deadlines are matters of public record, and you can file a comment on them.
Dates you could act on
- September 15, 2026U-22090 · prehearing conference
Prehearing conference before ALJ Sarah A. Stancati by video/teleconference; any interested person may participate.
What is still undecided
These cases are open before the Commission — some are UMERC’s own requests, others the Commission opened on its own motion. Undecided is the only window in which a comment from you counts for anything, so these are the ones worth watching.
- U-21601notice PDFRequested$0.1M
UMERC has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to review and settle up its 2025 power supply cost recovery, including finding that its 2025 power supply costs were reasonably incurred and moving a $53,349 under-recovery into its 2026 reconciliation. A prehearing is set for May 7, 2026 by video/teleconference, and anyone may attend or send a written comment referencing Case No. U-21601 to the Commission. Those who want to become a formal party must file a petition to intervene by April 30, 2026.
- U-22031notice PDFRequested$0M
Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to review and settle up its renewable energy costs for 2025 and to approve a new renewable energy surcharge, with an over-recovery balance of $305,966 and revenues totaling $2,250. A pre-hearing is set for July 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM by video/teleconference. Customers may attend and speak, send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22031, or file a petition to intervene by July 2, 2026.
- U-22114notice PDF
An internet provider, Highline Internet, has complained to the Michigan Public Service Commission about what WE Energies and Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation charge and require when Highline attaches its lines to their utility poles. Highline asks the Commission to order lower, just and reasonable make-ready costs and to apply National Electric Safety Code standards. A pre-hearing is set for June 22, 2026 by video/teleconference, and any interested person may participate.
This case covers Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation's voluntary green pricing programs, which customers can choose to join to have part of their electricity matched with renewable energy. In the April 17, 2026 order, the Commission allowed Tilden Mining Company to join the case, turned the matter into a contested proceeding, and combined it with the company's upcoming amended renewable energy plan filing, rather than ruling on the proposed program changes. In the earlier December 21, 2023 order, the Commission approved continued use of the existing program tariffs with no changes. Neither order changes standard residential electric rates; participation in these programs is optional.
- U-22015notice PDF
Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to sign off on its yearly accounting of Energy Waste Reduction program costs and revenues for 2025, including under-recovered amounts of $117,290 and $22,127 for its two electric rate zones and $33,395 for natural gas service, which it wants carried into next year's balances. A prehearing is set for May 14, 2026 by video/teleconference, and anyone may attend or send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22015. Those wanting to become a formal party must file a petition to intervene by May 7, 2026.
- U-22090notice PDF
Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve its gas cost recovery plan and factors for November 2026 through October 2027, including a base gas cost recovery factor of $0.49882 per therm that would be adjusted monthly. A prehearing is set for September 15, 2026 by video or teleconference, and any interested person may take part. Customers can also send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22090 to the Commission by email or mail, or file a petition to intervene by September 8, 2026.
What changed your bill
- Requested$0.1MApproved$0.1M
The Commission approved a settlement between Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation and Commission Staff that closes out the utility's 2024 power supply cost recovery year. It found the company collected $112,835 less from customers than its actual power supply costs for the 12 months ending December 31, 2024, made up of $89,328 in the WEPCo rate zone and $23,507 in the WPSC rate zone. That shortfall will be carried forward as the starting balance in the company's 2025 power supply cost recovery reconciliation rather than billed separately now. The order does not itself set a new residential rate or state a monthly bill change.
Everything else on the docket (11)
Procedural orders, reconciliations, and cases where no approved figure could be sourced. Kept for completeness — none of these carries a number we can tie to your bill.
The Commission approved a settlement between Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation and Commission Staff that closes out the company's gas cost recovery for the 12 months ending October 31, 2025. The settlement finds the gas supply costs during that period were reasonably and prudently incurred, and that the company collected $82,910 more from gas customers than its actual gas costs. That over-collection will be carried forward as the starting balance in the company's 2025-2026 gas cost recovery reconciliation rather than refunded separately. The order does not set new base rates, so it does not itself change a residential customer's monthly bill.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement covering Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation's power supply cost recovery plan for the 12 months ending December 31, 2026. UMERC had applied for a base power supply cost recovery factor of $0.00630 per kWh; under the approved settlement the base factor is a credit of $0.00138 per kWh in both the WEPCo and WPSC rate zones, applied starting with the first billing month after approval through December 31, 2026. The power supply charge on residential bills is adjusted by this factor, which can also be revised monthly under the approved adjustment mechanism tied to natural gas price forecasts. UMERC must file tariff sheets reflecting the settlement within 30 days.
The Commission approved a settlement between Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation and Commission Staff in the utility's annual review of its state reliability mechanism capacity charge. The existing charge of $224,161 per megawatt-year, first approved in Case No. U-21541, stays in place until the utility's next general rate case order or its next annual state reliability mechanism review, whichever comes first. Because the charge is unchanged, this order does not by itself change residential bill amounts.
The Commission approved Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation's request to use deferred accounting for costs of owning and operating the Renegade Solar facility until those costs are reviewed for recovery in a later case. This decision is for accounting purposes only and does not set or change rates. Whether customers eventually pay any of these costs will be decided in a future contested proceeding, so there is no immediate change to residential bills.
Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation asked the Commission to approve an amended renewable energy plan under Michigan's 2023 clean energy law, along with a proposed renewable energy surcharge to recover the plan's costs. On December 18, 2025, the Commission rejected the amended plan and ordered the company to file a new amended plan by October 15, 2026, alongside its integrated resource plan. On April 17, 2026, the Commission denied the company's request for rehearing and stated that the company may not recover Renegade Solar project costs through the power supply cost recovery mechanism without an approved amended plan, though it may seek recovery through other lawful means such as a general rate case. Because no plan or surcharge was approved, these orders do not change residential bills.
Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation asked to skip the Hosting Capacity Analysis section when it files its distribution system plan, which is due by January 30, 2026. The Commission granted that waiver for this one filing and encouraged the company to develop hosting capacity maps afterward. The order does not change rates or rate schedules, so residential bills are not affected.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement between Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation and Commission Staff covering the company's gas cost recovery plan for the 12 months ending October 31, 2026. The company may charge a base gas cost recovery factor of up to $0.58118 per therm, which can be adjusted monthly under a ceiling-price mechanism but cannot be forced below the base factor. The order also sets peak day backup demand charges of $0.62655 and $0.96089 per therm of demand per month and an annual supply backup commodity charge of $0.48916 per therm. Residential gas bills will reflect this gas cost factor for the billing months November 2025 through October 2026.
This case began as Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation's request to implement a power supply cost recovery plan for the 12 months ending December 31, 2023, which the parties settled in 2023. The orders here deal with later changes to that settlement: the Commission approved a revised amended settlement agreement that moves the deadline for the company's next integrated resource plan filing and adds modeling and data-sharing commitments, and it dismissed a late request to intervene by Tilden Mining Company L.C. These orders do not change any rate or charge, so they have no direct effect on a residential bill amount.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement between Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation, Commission Staff, and Tilden Mining that closes out the company's 2024 energy waste reduction (EWR) program costs and the money collected from customers for it. The settlement found the company under-collected $59,542 for natural gas service, $78,453 for electric service in the WPSC rate zone, and $267,915 for electric service in the WEPCo rate zone; those amounts are added to the starting balance of 2025 EWR costs. Revised EWR surcharges reflecting those balances take effect with the first billing month after this order; for example, the residential natural gas EWR surcharge changes from $0.0161 to $0.0197 per therm. The order does not state a typical dollar-per-month change for a residential customer.
The Commission approved an amended settlement between Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation and Commission Staff that closes out the company's gas cost recovery for the 12 months ending October 31, 2024. The order finds the gas costs for that period were reasonably and prudently incurred and directs the company to carry a $39,310.30 over-recovery forward as the starting balance for its 2024-2025 gas cost recovery reconciliation. Because the company collected more from gas customers than its gas costs, that amount is credited toward the next reconciliation period rather than refunded separately. The order does not set new base rates or state a change to a typical residential monthly bill.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement between Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation and Commission Staff covering the utility's power supply cost recovery plan for the 12 months ending December 31, 2025. The settlement sets a maximum power supply cost recovery factor of $0 per kWh in both the WEPCo and WPSC rate zones, with a mechanism that allows the maximum factor to be adjusted monthly if forecasted natural gas prices on the NYMEX rise above the level assumed in the plan. Because the plan-year factor is $0 per kWh, no added fuel-cost charge is applied to residential bills unless the gas-price adjustment mechanism is triggered. The utility must file conforming tariff sheets within 30 days of the order.
Every figure is quoted from the order it came from — hover a number to see the exact sentence and page. Figures without a quote in the source are not shown at all. Extracted figures are machine-read and not yet checked by a person.
Large load watch
Who pays for the data centers
A single hyperscale data center can ask for more power than a small city. The question in front of the Commission is not whether they get it — it is what they have to commit to in order to get it, and who absorbs the cost of the poles, wires, and generation built for them if the project shrinks or never arrives.
In U-22061, DTE Electric asked to rewrite its Rate D11 and add a provision for customers taking more than 100 MW: a minimum monthly bill regardless of how much power is actually used, administrative fees, a fee for walking away, and collateral up front. Those terms are the difference between a data center carrying its own risk and residential customers carrying it. UMERC has not filed a large-load provision of its own. What the Commission approves here is the template the rest of Michigan’s regulated utilities will be measured against.
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to change its Rate D11 and add a new provision for very large electricity users, such as customers needing more than 100 MW, including a minimum monthly billing amount, administrative fees, a termination fee, and collateral requirements. The Commission has not decided the case; a prehearing is set for April 28, 2026 by video/teleconference. Customers can attend that hearing, file a written comment referencing Case No. U-22061, or file a petition to intervene by April 21, 2026.
The scheduled dates in this case have passed — the last was May 5, 2026. The case remains open, and an order can issue at any time. This is the one worth having emailed to you.