Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced that her office will intervene in a new natural gas rate case filed by Consumers Energy.

On Oct. 15, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a roughly 4.3% rate increase that will allow Consumers Energy to collect an additional $139.2 million annually. The utility had requested about $240 million. The approved amount is more than 42% lower than the request.

Four days later, on Oct. 19, Consumers Energy filed notice of its intent to seek another natural gas rate increase. The full application is expected in December.

“Major utilities like Consumers Energy and DTE employ entire teams of staff to craft rate hike applications to file one right after another, and their bill-paying customers pay all the costs to craft these massive proposals,” Nessel said in a release. “In the past, we have asked the MPSC to require both companies to track their costs associated with rate hike cases and, as long as their customers are paying for the process, I hope someday soon we’ll know just how much.”

Starting Nov. 1, a typical residential customer using 75 hundred cubic feet of natural gas per month will see an increase of about $3.92. These rate increases generally cover capital investment costs such as gas mains, pipes and service lines.

Consumers Energy received approval for a $157.5 million natural gas rate increase on Sept. 30, 2025. The company also has a separate electric rate case pending in which it is seeking roughly $456 million. It serves approximately 1.8 million natural gas customers in Michigan.