Michigan families are still adjusting to the biggest electric rate increase in decades — and Consumers Energy is already asking for an even larger one.

On June 2, 2026, Consumers Energy filed a request with state regulators to raise electric rates by $456 million. That's a 9.8% increase for residential customers. It's the company's largest ask in more than 20 years — for the second year in a row. And it was filed on the very first day the law allows, exactly 365 days after their last application.

The previous rate hike — $216.9 million — only went into effect last month. Consumers was already drafting this new request before anyone knew the outcome of the last one.

Michigan households are stretched thin. Inflation is rising. Many families are already choosing between groceries, rent, and keeping the lights on. A nearly 10% jump in electric bills isn't an inconvenience — for millions of people, it's a crisis.

Consumer advocates say the improvements Consumers Energy promises — fewer outages, better reliability — could be achieved at far lower cost. According to Michael Larson, interim executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, utilities like Consumers have a pattern of proposing "gold-plated" plans that prioritize unnecessary capital spending over affordable solutions. "Granting such a rate increase would be devastating for Michigan households at a time when inflation is again on the rise," he said.

The Michigan Public Service Commission — the three governor-appointed regulators who decide this — routinely cuts utility rate requests substantially before approving them. They have the power to reject or dramatically reduce this hike.

We're asking them to do exactly that.

Sign this petition to urge the Michigan Public Service Commission to reject or sharply reduce Consumers Energy's $456 million rate hike request — and put the financial wellbeing of Michigan's 1.9 million electric customers first.