Consumers Energy will get more time to reach a settlement with opponents of its plan to sell its 13 hydroelectric dams.
The Michigan Public Service Commission has agreed to Consumers Energy's request for a second waiver of the agency’s statutory deadline to issue a decision in the utility’s proposed dams sale.
That gives the utility more time to negotiate with intervenors in the case that oppose the sale. But it's unclear who Consumers Energy is negotiating with, after most intervenors left the first round of negotiations still opposed.
"The attorney general, the governor's office, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the conservation groups, the industrial customers, have all said the negotiations are not going anywhere," said Howard Learner with the Environmental Law and Policy Center, which represents one of the intervenors.
Consumers Energy has proposed to sell its 13 aging hydroelectric dams along the Au Sable, Grand, Kalamazoo, Manistee and Muskegon rivers to Confluence Hydro, a private equity energy company, for $1 each. Consumers would then purchase the power generated by the dams, and the new owner would be financially responsible to ensure the safety of the dams.
In June, an administrative law judge found that the proposal was too risky and not in the public interest.
Learner said the Michigan Public Service Commission should do its job and make a final decision based on the findings of the administrative law judge.
"Enough is enough. The proposed dam sale is a bad deal for ratepayers, for the rivers and for safe dams in Michigan. This is a bad deal that should be rejected by the public service commission. Let's move forward," Learner said.
Learner said the disposition of the dams should be made on a case-by-case basis, since each one is different and affects different groups of people.
Consumers Energy continues to insist that a settlement is possible.
“We understand the desire for communities and our coworkers for an outcome in this case. We are providing for a little more time to reach a constructive agreement that will be a win for our customers, Michigan, and the communities we care about,” said Chris Fultz, Consumers Energy’s senior vice president of electric supply, in a statement.
“We continue to work with others to find solutions to ensure these dams will continue to operate safely and responsibly for years to come," Fultz said.
"We recognize some parties have publicly opposed continuing settlement efforts. Consumers Energy respectfully disagrees and remains committed to working in good faith to achieve a constructive settlement for the benefit of customers, communities and the State of Michigan.”
The commission said it was reasonable to allow negotiations to continue, but warned that this will be the final extension granted in this case to Consumers, and any settlement agreement reached in the matter must be filed by 5 p.m. on December 9.
If no settlement is filed by the December 9 deadline, the Commission will issue a final order on the sale on December 17.
Learner said it's not unheard of for the agency to decide a case differently than an administrative law judge. But he said the judge in this case wrote an unusually detailed, 312-page opinion based on an extensive evidentiary record.
"The commission would really have to look at the same evidence, the same evidentiary record, and have a factual basis as well as a legal basis for reaching a different conclusion," Learner said. "And in this particular case, I think that would just be very, very hard for the commission to do in a legally sustainable way."
