Electricity consumption among customers enrolled in Michigan's electric choice program rose slightly in 2023 after dipping slightly the year before, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission's annual Status of Electric Competition report.
The report found electric demand in the electric choice program in 2023 at 2,798 megawatts (MW), up from 2,138 MW in 2022. Electric choice is limited to 10% of a utility's average weather-adjusted retail sales for the preceding calendar year, under Public Act 286 of 2008. The slight increase is in line with the overall increase in retail sales, with each electric provider at or very near the 10% cap. The number of customers participating in the electric choice program declined, meanwhile, to 5,539 in 2023 from 5,760 in 2022. Almost all choice participants are commercial or industrial customers, from large manufacturers to retailers, restaurants, health care facilities and school systems.
Michigan's utility service market was opened to competition through the Customer Choice and Electricity Reliability Act of 2000. This law permits up to 10% of retail electric sales to be purchased from an alternative electric supplier (AES). The number of licensed AESs in Michigan held steady at 21 in 2023. As of December 2023, about 5,981 customers remain in the queue of those interested in participating in the program if space becomes available under the 10% cap.
Electric choice programs for Consumers Energy Co., DTE Electric Co., Upper Peninsula Power Co., Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp., Cloverland Electric Cooperative and Indiana Michigan Power Co. remained at or near their 10% cap for 2023.
Michigan is one of 21 jurisdictions that had a form of restructured retail electric market in 2023. The MPSC's Customer Choice webpage has customer, supplier and program information about electric choice participation for each utility.
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