Michigan Addresses Reliability, Customer Data Access Under MI Power Grid Initiative

The Michigan Public Service Commission on Sept. 8 issued an order aimed to improve reliability in the electric distribution system and advance efforts on customer data and privacy issues. The move is part of the MI Power Grid initiative, a multi-year stakeholder initiative launched in 2019 to maximize the transition to clean and distributed energy sources for residents and businesses.

Michigan’s distribution system reliability and current plans for improvements are inadequate, according to the commission, based on present distribution planning methods. The commission reviewed distribution investment and maintenance plans for utilities.

The commission adopted recommendations for the utilities to submit forecasted metrics in future distribution plans and to map planned system investments against the metrics, in a bid to gain more understanding of anticipated enhancements in reliability. The agency also directed utilities to report all shutdown event data to better understand grid performance. The initiative also requested strategic pilot proposals for undergrounding overhead powerlines to be submitted in upcoming rate cases or distribution plans.

Additionally, the commission expressed an interest in integrating distributed energy resources into future distribution plans and requested feedback on the topic. The agency observes the need for additional work on benefit cost analyses to strike a better balance between utility investments and customer affordability.The commission also instructed regulated utilities to adopt federal fair information practice principles for customer data storage and data sharing by June 1, 2023, and to file reports on data storage and sharing annually thereafter. Further, the commission directed regulated utilities with over 100,000 customers to support third-party access to aggregated and anonymized data at minimum standards by July 1, 2023.

The order also instructs the commission’s staff to investigate establishing a utility program portal providing easy access to utility initiatives and develop and issue a survey by Dec. 30, 2022, to gain additional information from customers related to customer outreach.

Consumers Energy, DTE Electric, and Indiana Michigan Power are required to file their next distribution investment and maintenance plans by Sep. 29, 2023, and Alpena Power and the Northern States Power by Sept. 30, 2024.

Comments on the appropriate metrics for distributed energy resources and their integration into future distribution plans are due by Nov. 1, 2022, with a reply comment by Nov. 15, 2022.