Notice2026-05835
Consumers Energy Company; Notice of Staff Protest to Compliance Filing
Primary source
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Published
March 25, 2026
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 57 (Wednesday, March 25, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 25, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14558-14559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05835]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. PR25-52-003]
Consumers Energy Company; Notice of Staff Protest to Compliance
Filing
1. Commission staff hereby protests pursuant to section
284.123(g)(4)(i) of the Commission's regulations,\1\ the compliance
filing made by Consumers Energy Company (Consumers Energy) on February
2, 2026, in the above referenced docket. On May 19, 2025, as amended on
September 12, 2025, Consumers Energy filed an application under section
7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and section 284.224 of the
Commission's regulations for a limited jurisdiction blanket certificate
to transport and sell natural gas in interstate commerce and requested
authority to use its state-approved Transmission only Transportation
(TOT) service rate as the rate for service. In an order issued on
December 18, 2025, the Commission directed Consumers Energy to revise
its TOT service rate to comply with the Commission's rate design
policies or provide a reasonable justification as to why it qualifies
for an exemption.\2\
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\1\ 18 CFR 284.123(g)(4)(i) (2025).
\2\ Consumers Energy Co., 193 FERC ] 61,212 (2025) (December 18
Order).
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2. On compliance, Consumers Energy states, among other things, that
its proposed TOT service rate generally does not include any variable
costs and that the majority of its compression infrastructure supports
only storage activities, which are not components of the TOT service.
Additionally, Consumers Energy states that because its cost of service
employs a forward-looking, projected test year, its forward-looking
costs are considered fixed.\3\
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\3\ Compliance Filing Transmittal at 3.
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3. Commission staff finds that Consumers Energy has not adequately
supported its filing or demonstrated that the TOT service rate is fair
and equitable. For instance, while Consumers Energy claims that ``the
majority of the compression'' \4\ facilities support storage activity
and that its forward-looking costs are considered fixed, it provides no
supporting evidence to substantiate these claims. Furthermore,
Consumers Energy does not provide adequate evidence of how it is
allocating costs for the minority of its compression facilities that
support its Commission-jurisdictional TOT service rather than its
storage activity. Without evidence, such as a breakdown of its
Operation and Maintenance expenses or projected cost of service,
Commission staff is unable to determine whether the TOT service rate is
in compliance with the December 18 Order and Commission policy.
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\4\ Id.
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Authority: 18 CFR 2.1.
[[Page 14559]]
Dated: March 20, 2026.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-05835 Filed 3-24-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 25, 2026.
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