DTE’s headquarters in Detroit. Credit: snehitdesign/Dreamstime

LANSING– Proposed legislation in the House would restructure the Public Service Commission.

The bills would require members of the PSC to be elected by the public rather than appointed by the governor. They are sponsored by Reps. Jimmie Wilson Jr., D-Ypsilanti, and Reggie Miller, D-Van Buren Township, and co-sponsored by a dozen other lawmakers.

The PSC oversees and regulates private, investor-owned utility companies. It is responsible for approving rates and overseeing infrastructure investments and changes.

The package includes a resolution to propose a constitutional amendment to increase the number of commissioners and stagger their terms.

Currently, the governor appoints the three commissioners to six-year terms, with no more than two members from the same political party serving at the same time.

If the change is approved, commissioners would be chosen in the 2028 election and begin serving Jan 1, 2029. Initially, three members would serve four-year terms and two members would serve two-year terms. In subsequent elections, all would be elected to four-year terms.

Wilson said a major goal is to give voters greater power to hold utility companies accountable.

“There is no real accountability to the people in Michigan — they only have to answer to the governor,” Wilson said of the current appointment process. “For this reason, the commission should be an elected body.”

Under the proposal, candidates would be nominated through party conventions but would appear on the nonpartisan ballot, a process now used for state Supreme Court justices.

The legislation would also let the PSC’s members choose their own chair. Currently, the governor designates the chair.

The proposal came just weeks after the commission approved a $242 million electricity rate increase for DTE Energy, one of the state’s two largest investor-owned utilities. The other is Consumers Energy.

About 40 Michigan communities own and operate their own electric utilities, such as Lansing’s Board of Water & Light, which are not regulated by the PSC.

Wilson said he has heard from numerous colleagues and residents who say the selection process for commissioners needs to change.

Asked about the legislation, Matt Helms, the public information officer at the PSC, said in a statement that the commission does not yet have a stance on the bills and is “focused on keeping up recent momentum on significant improvements in electric reliability and keeping customer costs in check.”

Erik Nordman, a Michigan State University professor in agricultural, food and resource economics and the director of the Institute of Public Utilities, said that he does not foresee the legislation improving accountability and lowering rates for utility customers.

“What’s driving utility rates are weather-related disasters, which utility companies and the PSC have no control over,” Nordman said. “We also have an aging electricity grid, and there’s a lot of volatility in natural gas prices.”

Nordman also said that electing regulatory commissions is not a new trend– at least 10 states – Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma – currently elect their commissioners.

Nordman said there is little evidence pointing to lower rates when commissioners are elected, but there is more turnover in commissioners when utility rates are high.

The legislation is still in the early stages of the process and pending before the House Committee on Government Operations.