Consumers Energy proposes $456 million rate hike just two months after it raised rates by $276.6 million

LANSING, MI – The Michigan League of Conservation Voters today issued the following statement after Consumers Energy filed for a $456 million rate hike just months after it was granted a $276.6 million increase by state regulators at the end of March. The request is Consumers’ largest in 20 years.

“Costs for everything have gone up, and the never-ending rate hikes from monopoly utility companies are putting the squeeze on Michigan families,” said Alex Kellogg, Energy Accountability Manager for the Michigan LCV. “While we pay more and more on our energy bills, monopoly utility companies, like Consumers Energy, make billions in profits. Our bills are too damn high already. To stop these endless rate hikes, it’s time for leaders in Lansing to pass a Ratepayer Bill of Rights to rein in rising energy costs and out-of-control utility greed.”

CMS Energy, the parent company of Consumers Energy, reported a profit of more than $1 billion in 2025, crediting rate increases it received last year as a big part of the reason. Consumers Energy’s CEO made more than $10 million in 2024, the most recent year for which data is available. 

According to the Michigan Attorney General’s office, Consumers has been granted nearly $800 million in cumulative annual revenue rate increases by the Michigan Public Service Commission since 2019, even though research by the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan has repeatedly found Michigan families and businesses pay the highest energy bills in the Midwest yet endure some of the longest power outages in the country. 

When Consumers was allowed to raise electric rates by $276.6 million in March, state regulators granted the company a return on equity (profit percentage the utility is allowed to earn for its investors) of 9.9% – far higher than was recommended by a third-party judge. That follows a pattern that many consumer and environmental advocates have criticized for years. 

Consumers’ latest request to increase its electric rates would mark its seventh request in seven years and would affect approximately 1.8 million families and businesses across Michigan. 

A Ratepayer Bill of Rights would:

• Ban political contributions from regulated utilities to lawmakers. 
• Stop Michigan families and businesses from funding CEO bonuses and corporate lavish lifestyles while customers sit in the dark for too long. 
• Guarantee the right to reliable, affordable energy for every household. 
• Empower residents to choose their own electric provider and communities to produce more of their own clean energy, like community solar, without obstruction from monopoly utilities.