Michigan Public Service Commission 
Intervention

MPSC Intervention Committee

Terms & Acronyms​

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Types of cases:

• REP = Renewable Energy Plan – how to meet the Renewable Energy Standard (RES)

Must generate Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Partly pre-authorizes renewable generation
construction.

• VGP = Voluntary Green Power – customers have the option to buy green power, over and above the proportion

required by the renewable energy standard. For DTE, this is the MIGreenPower program. Partly authorizes renewable generation construction to meet customer demand.

• IRP = Integrated Resource Plan – at least every 5 years, utilities must lay out their projected demand for the

next 20 years, and a build/retirement plan to meet that demand. Partly pre-authorizes generation construction.

• PURPA – Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 – Federal Law that allows third parties with renewable

generation to sell their output to the public utility at the utility’s “avoided cost”, which is set by the MPSC.

• PSCR – Power Supply Cost Recovery – A case that allows utilities to recover the cost of fuel, chemicals used

up to reduce emissions, and purchased power. Appears as a charge on the bill.

Intervenors:

• AG = Attorney General’s office

• MEC = Michigan Environmental Council

• ELPC – Environmental Law and Policy Center

• CEO = Clean Energy Organizations (ELPC + Ecology Center + Union of Concerned Scientists + Vote Solar)

• SC = Sierra Club

• ABATE = Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity (large, industrial ratepayers)

Acronyms in Cases:

• ALJ – Administrative Law Judge – MPSC judges that manage contested cases. After testimony, rebuttal testimony, briefs, and reply briefs, the judge writes a Proposal For Decision (PFD). The utility and intervenors write exceptions to the PFD, and the entire record is turned over to the Commissioners for an order.

• DG – Distributed Generation – program that small renewable generation installed at customer sites can sell excess energy to the utility at a price set by the MPSC. Required by MI statute.

• DOE – (US) Department of Energy

• DR – Demand Response – utility programs to reduce demand when power demand is close to/exceeds available utility/PPA generation capacity. Required by statute (I think), with a profit bonus.

• EWR – Energy Waste Reduction – Utility or third-party programs of energy efficiency measures. Required by State law. Utilities can setup their own program or pay a third-party to do so. Utilities that exceed the minimum specified in the law (a percentage of annual sales) can get a significant profit bonus

• LMP – Locational Marginal Price – MISO has daily auctions of electrical energy; this is the hourly price that results
  from that auction MCL – Michigan Compiled law – the summation of all legislation in-effect

• MISO – Midwest Independent System Operator – responsible for capacity adequacy and transmission upgrades within its region. New generation must go through an interconnect process and get a
  Generator Interconnect Agreement (GIA). There are long delays and substantial fees to get a GIA.

• MPSC – Michigan Public Service Commission

• PRA – Planning Resource Auction – MISO has auctions for electric capacity (annual or quarterly now?). This is the price of capacity at that auction. If there is insufficient capacity bid to meet projected demand + reserve, then the price is set at the Cost of New Entry (CONE) – the estimated cost of capacity a natural gas plant

• RES or RPS – Renewable Energy Standard (MI) law required utilities to generate a certain percentage of their energy from renewable sources. Broader industry/policy term is a RPS - Renewable Portfolio Standard

• UCPB – Utility Citizen’s Participation Board – Michigan board setup by law to give grants (funded by utility bills) to non-profits to intervene in utility cases

• VPP – an aggregation of demand response, generation, and/or energy storage that can be called on during times when power demand is close to/exceeds available utility/PPA generation capacity