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The Michigan PSC issued its annual report on the Status of Electric Competition in Michigan.

The Customer Choice and Electricity Reliability Act (Public Act 141 of 2000) require the Michigan Public Service Commission (Commission or MPSC) to file a report with the Governor and the Legislature by February 1 each year. This report represents the 21st year of electric choice in Michigan.

As background, in Michigan, Public Act 286 caps electric choice participation at 10% of an electric utility’s average weather-adjusted retail sales for the preceding year. The 10% cap is reset annually to reflect the average weather adjusted retail sales for the preceding year.

The electric choice programs include Consumers Energy Company, Upper Michigan Energy Resource Corporation, Upper Peninsula Power Company, Indiana Michigan Power, and DTE Electric Company.

As of December 2025, below are some interesting facts from the report:

• The electric choice programs for the participating utilities were fully subscribed at the 10% cap throughout the year.
• The majority of customers participating in these electric choice programs are industrial customers, with a smaller number of commercial customers participating. Industrial customers also represent the vast majority of load served through electric choice.
•  Approximately 5,517 customers participating in the electric choice programs (compared to 5,514 in 2024). This represents approximately 2,172 MW of electric demand, which is a decrease of about 15 MW from 2024.
• Approximately 5,101 customers remain in the queue, a decrease from 5,899 in 2024. There was a decrease in the total electric choice load in 2025, and electric choice participation remained around 10% for each utility.
• There were 20 licensed AESs with seven of those actively serving customers in Michigan as of December 2025
• In 2025, Michigan’s average industrial retail rates ranked second lowest among the six Midwest states at $0.0858/kWh, an improvement from the previous year as Michigan’s industrial rates are now lower than they are in Indiana. Prices are based on actual reported statewide utility sales and revenues for each year and are not adjusted for inflation.

Recommendation for Legislation:

“The Commission is continually implementing the provisions outlined in PA 341 and has no recommendations for legislation related to the energy choice framework established under Act 141, Act 286, and Act 341.

However, as noted in the Commission’s December 2, 2024 Upper Peninsula Energy Report developed pursuant to Public Act 235 of 2023 (Act 235), the statutory increase in utility distributed generation programs included elsewhere in Act 235, combined with the issuance of Order 2222 in September 2020 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has resulted in growing interest and opportunities related to aggregated distributed energy resources. In its December 21, 2022 order in Case No. U-21099, the Commission partially lifted the prohibition on the ability of aggregated demand response resources from participating in regional power markets as part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to bolster Michigan’s energy capacity. However, the actions taken to date only apply to retail commercial and industrial customers with a minimum enrolled load of 1 megawatt, with the Commission noting that “additional work surrounding customer protections is warranted” before allowing participation by residential and smaller commercial customers. As such, the Commission repeats its recommendation from the Upper Peninsula Energy Report that the Legislature “should work to enact a statutory framework that provides meaningful consumer protections while providing a pathway for aggregated DERs to participate in the regional wholesale electricity markets, consistent with FERC Order 2222.

Throughout 2025, the Commission continued to engage with interested parties regarding the resource adequacy and state reliability mechanism provisions within the 2016 energy law. 22 The Commission will continue to closely monitor the impact of the implementation of the 2016 energy law on energy providers and customers in Michigan. Although the Commission does not recommend any legislative changes at this time, the Commission stands ready to assist the Legislature for any reason.”