SB-0284, As Passed Senate, June 18, 2013
HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 284
A bill to amend 1939 PA 3, entitled
"An act to provide for the regulation and control of public and
certain private utilities and other services affected with a public
interest within this state; to provide for alternative energy
suppliers; to provide for licensing; to include municipally owned
utilities and other providers of energy under certain provisions of
this act; to create a public service commission and to prescribe
and define its powers and duties; to abolish the Michigan public
utilities commission and to confer the powers and duties vested by
law on the public service commission; to provide for the
continuance, transfer, and completion of certain matters and
proceedings; to abolish automatic adjustment clauses; to prohibit
certain rate increases without notice and hearing; to qualify
residential energy conservation programs permitted under state law
for certain federal exemption; to create a fund; to provide for a
restructuring of the manner in which energy is provided in this
state; to encourage the utilization of resource recovery
facilities; to prohibit certain acts and practices of providers of
energy; to allow for the securitization of stranded costs; to
reduce rates; to provide for appeals; to provide appropriations; to
declare the effect and purpose of this act; to prescribe remedies
and penalties; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,"
(MCL 460.1 to 460.11) by adding section 9t.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 9t. (1) The low-income energy assistance fund is created
within the state treasury.
(2) The state treasurer may receive money or other assets from
any source for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall
direct the investment of the fund. The state treasurer shall credit
to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments.
(3) Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall
remain in the fund and shall not lapse to the general fund.
(4) The department of licensing and regulatory affairs shall
be the administrator of the fund for auditing purposes.
(5) Subject to the limitations imposed in this section, the
department of human services shall expend money from the fund, upon
appropriation, as provided in the Michigan energy assistance act,
2012 PA 615, MCL 400.1231 to 400.1236. The department of human
services, in consultation with the public service commission, shall
ensure that all money collected for the fund from a geographic area
is returned, to the extent possible, to that geographic area.
(6) Subject to the limitations imposed in this subsection, the
public service commission may, after an opportunity to comment,
annually approve a low-income energy assistance funding factor no
later than July 31 of each year for the subsequent fiscal year. The
low-income energy assistance funding factor shall be the same
across all customer classes and shall not exceed $1.00. The amount
used by the public service commission to calculate a low-income
energy assistance funding factor during each fiscal year shall not
exceed $50,000,000.00 minus both the amount appropriated from the
general fund in that fiscal year for home energy assistance and the
amount remaining in the fund from the prior fiscal year. An
electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or
cooperative electric utility that collects money under this
subsection shall remit that money to the state treasurer for
deposit in the fund on a monthly basis no later than 30 days after
the last day in each calendar month. The electric utility,
municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative electric utility
shall list the low-income energy assistance funding factor as a
separate line item on each customer's bill.
(7) An electric utility, municipally owned electric utility,
or cooperative electric utility may elect to not collect a low-
income energy assistance funding factor under this section by
annually filing a notice with the public service commission by July
1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, an electric
utility, municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative
electric utility that elects to not collect a low-income energy
assistance funding factor under this section shall not shut off
service to any residential customer from November 1 to April 15 for
nonpayment of a delinquent account.
(8) An electric utility, municipally owned electric utility,
or cooperative electric utility that does not opt out under
subsection (7), or an association representing a municipally owned
electric utility or cooperative electric utility that does not opt
out under subsection (7), shall annually provide to the public
service commission by July 1 the number of retail billing meters it
serves in this state that are subject to the low-income energy
assistance funding factor.
(9) Nothing in this act gives the public service commission
the power to regulate a municipally owned electric utility.
(10) As used in this section:
(a) "Fund" means the low-income energy assistance fund created
in subsection (1).
(b) "Low-income energy assistance funding factor" means a
nonbypassable surcharge on each retail billing meter payable
monthly by every customer receiving a retail distribution service
from an electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or
cooperative electric utility that does not opt out under subsection
(7), regardless of the identity of the customer's electric
generation supplier. The low-income energy assistance funding
factor shall not be charged on more than 1 residential meter per
residential site.