Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
MICHIGAN ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
Senate Bill 353 (H-1) as reported from House committee Analysis available at
Sponsor: Sen. Veronica Klinefelt http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Senate Bill 880 (H-1) as reported from House committee
Sponsor: Sen. Sam Singh
Senate Bill 881 (S-1) as reported
Sponsor: Sen. Rick Outman
House Bill 6075 as reported
Sponsor: Rep. Helena Scott
House Committee: Energy, Communications, and Technology
Senate Committee (SBs 353, 880, and 881): Energy and Environment
Complete to 12-10-24
SUMMARY:
The bills would amend the Michigan Energy Assistance Act and 1939 PA 3, the enabling act
for the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), to revise requirements concerning low-
income energy assistance under the acts. The bills are described together below based on the
act being amended.
Michigan Energy Assistance Act (SB 353 and HB 6075)
The Michigan Energy Assistance Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) to establish and administer the Michigan Energy Assistance Program statewide to
provide energy assistance to eligible low-income households. 1 As currently defined, the term
eligible low-income household means a household with a household income of up to 150% of
the federal poverty guidelines. Under the bills, this would apply through September 30, 2025,
then, beginning after (not on) October 1, 2025, eligible low-income household would mean a
household that meets both of the following:
• It has a household income of up to 60% of the state median income.
• Its electric utility does not opt out of collecting the low-income energy assistance
funding factor under section 9t of 1939 PA 3 (which SBs 880 and 881 would amend).
State median income would mean the state median income promulgated by the
secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services in accordance
with procedures established under section 2002 of the federal Social Security Act, 42
USC 1397a, and adjusted, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the secretary,
to take into account the number of individuals in the household.
Under current law, energy assistance must include services that will enable participants to
become or move toward becoming self-sufficient. The bills would retain this requirement, as
1
https://www.michigan.gov/mpsc/consumer/energy-assistance
House Fiscal Agency Page 1 of 6
 appropriate for the household, and further require that energy assistance prioritize vulnerable
populations. DHHS would have to notify program participants that they are eligible for other
services under the program, such as energy waste reduction products and services offered by
an energy provider or a home weatherization assistance program.
Vulnerable populations would mean eligible low-income households that have at least
one member who is any of the following:
• A child under five years of age.
• An individual with a disability.
• An individual who is 60 years of age or older.
• An individual who has experienced homelessness in the preceding 12 months
and who needs energy assistance to secure housing.
The bills would allow DHHS to establish guidelines for verifying the eligibility of all applicants
to ensure that assistance funds are provided only to eligible low-income households. If it
establishes such guidelines, the department would have to consider opportunities to incorporate
categorical eligibility.
Categorical eligibility would mean policies that make a household eligible for energy
assistance based on the household’s involvement in other low-income assistance
programs that use similar eligibility criteria.
The bills would provide that an electric provider, natural gas provider, or other energy provider
is not required to verify the eligibility of program applicants.
The act currently requires that at least 70% of the funds received for the program must be spent
during the state’s crisis season, defined as November 1 to May 31. The bills would delete this
provision.
The act now requires an entity with which DHHS contracts to provide energy assistance to use
at least 92% of the funds received from the department for that purpose (or, with approval, at
least 90%). The bills would require DHHS, in consultation with the MPSC, to set a minimum
allocation for contracted entities. In addition, by October 1, 2025, DHHS, in consultation with
the MPSC, would have to provide guidelines on the provision of self-sufficiency services. The
guidelines would have to be incorporated into performance metrics for contracted entities
beginning with the program year that begins on October 1, 2026.
DHHS must now provide an annual report on how program money was spent to the legislature,
relevant legislative committees and subcommittees, and the House and Senate Fiscal Agencies.
The bills would require that, beginning with the program year that ends September 30, 2026,
this annual report must be provided no later than March 1, 2027.
Finally, the bills would revise the definition of crisis, although that term would no longer be
used in the act.
MCL 400.1232 et seq. and proposed MCL 400.1234a
House Fiscal Agency SBs 353, 880, and 881 and HB 6075 as reported Page 2 of 6
 MPSC enabling act (SBs 880 and 881)
Section 9t of 1939 PA 3 creates the Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund in the state treasury
and requires money in the fund to be spent as provided in the Michigan Energy Assistance Act.
The bills would require DHHS, in consultation with the MPSC, to ensure that the fund is
administered to promote all of the following:
• Statewide access to the Michigan Energy Assistance Program, ensuring that funds
collected from a specific geographic area are, to the extent possible, returned to eligible
low-income customers in that specific geographic area.
• Collaboration between DHHS, the MPSC, energy providers, and entities that
administer assistance programs to ensure that, to the extent possible, eligible low-
income customers in a geographic area are receiving funds proportional to what
customers in that geographic area are being assessed.
• For energy providers and entities that administer assistance programs, education and
outreach on availability of the assistance programs and funding.
The act currently allows the MPSC to annually approve a low-income energy assistance
funding factor of up to $1.00 to be assessed on customers’ electric utility bills. The bills would
change, from July 31 of each year to May 1 of each year, the date by which the MPSC must
approve the funding factor. The bills also would allow the MPSC to increase the funding factor
to $1.25 on the applicable bill’s effective date, and to increase it by up to $0.25 each year
thereafter, up to a new cap of $2.00. Beginning in 2029, the cap would have to be annually
adjusted for inflation. In addition, if the fund’s remaining balance reported at the end of a fiscal
year is greater than 10% of the funds collected by the funding factor in the fiscal year for which
the remaining balance was reported, the MPSC would have to shall set the funding factor at a
rate at which the total funds collected will not exceed the total amount of funds collected by
the funding factor in the reported year minus the reported remaining balance.
The act currently allows an electric utility to opt out of collecting the funding factor by filing
an annual notice with the MPSC by July 1. A utility that does so is prohibited from shutting
off service to a residential customer from November 1 to April 15 for nonpayment of a
delinquent account. The bills would limit the ability to opt out to only those electric utilities
that have fewer than 45,000 residential electric customers, change the deadline for the annual
notice to April 1, and remove the described provisions prohibiting certain service shutoffs. In
addition, the notice filed by the utility would have to include the total number of retail billing
meters the utility serves in Michigan that would be subject to the funding factor if the utility
were not opting out. The total would have to be provided by service territory and by county.
A utility that opts out as described above would have to establish and fund an energy assistance
program for its residential customers that provides assistance for both their electric and home
heating needs consistent with the eligibility requirements of the Michigan Energy Assistance
Program. The utility would have to ensure that the funds available for these programs are
sufficient to provide assistance to all eligible customers who apply, but it would not have to
spend more for an energy assistance program than what it would have collected from the
funding factor if it hadn’t opted out.
Beginning October 1, 2025, and annually after that, a utility that opts out would have to provide
notice to its residential customers of its available energy assistance. The notice would have to
include a description of the program, eligibility guidelines, application information, and a
House Fiscal Agency SBs 353, 880, and 881 and HB 6075 as reported Page 3 of 6
 statement that the program is offered instead of collecting the low-income energy assistance
factor. The utility would also have to include information about the assistance program on its
website.
Beginning December 1, 2026, and annually after that, a utility that opts out would have to
submit a report to the MPSC that contains the following information:
• The total amount of funds available for energy assistance for the utility’s customers.
• The total number of the utility’s customers, by county, that applied for energy
assistance through the utility program.
• The total number of the utility’s customers, by county, that received assistance.
• The total amount of assistance provided to the utility’s customers, by county, including
a description of the amount of assistance provided for each home heating commodity.
• Any other information the MPSC considers necessary to demonstrate compliance with
the bills.
The MPSC could develop a template that utilities may use to meet the above reporting
requirements.
The attorney general or a customer of a municipally owned electric utility or cooperative
electric utility that opts out as described above could commence a civil action for injunctive
relief against the utility if it fails to meet the above requirements. 2 The action would have to be
commenced in the circuit court for the county where the principal office of the utility is located.
The attorney general or customer could not file an action without first giving the utility at least
60 days’ written notice of the intent to sue, the basis for the suit, and the relief sought. Not later
than 30 days after the utility receives that written notice sue, the utility and the attorney general
or customer would have to meet and make a good-faith attempt to determine if there is a
credible basis for the action. If there is a credible basis for the action, the utility would have to
take all reasonable and prudent steps necessary to comply with the applicable requirements
above within 90 days after the meeting. If the parties do not agree as to whether there is a
credible basis for the action, the attorney general or customer could proceed to file the suit.
The MPSC would have to ensure that an electric utility that opts out complies with these
provisions and could, after opportunity for a hearing, take steps to enforce these provisions.
A utility that does not opt out of the funding factor must now report to the MPSC by July 1 on
the number of retail billing meters in Michigan that are subject to the funding factor. The bills
would change this date to April 1 and require the information to be broken down by both
service territory and county.
Under the bills, beginning December 1, 2025, and by each December 1 after that, the state
treasurer would have to report to the MPSC the total amount of money that was collected by
the Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund and the remaining balance of the fund from the
immediately preceding fiscal year.
In addition, beginning March 1, 2027, and by each March 1 after that, DHHS would have to
shall provide to the House and Senate appropriations subcommittee for the DHHS budget and
2
These kinds of utilities are either not subject to MPSC regulation or to limited regulation of specified areas.
House Fiscal Agency SBs 353, 880, and 881 and HB 6075 as reported Page 4 of 6
 the House and Senate standing committees on energy a report containing all of the following
information: 3
• The distribution of money from the fund across the state.
• A summary of total funds received and assistance awarded for each county.
• A summary of the education, marketing, and outreach to improve the distribution of
funds.
MCL 460.9t
Effectiveness
Senate Bills 353, 880, and 881 are tie-barred to each other, which means none of them can take
effect unless all three are enacted. House Bill 6075 also could not take effect unless all three
Senate bills are enacted.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The bills would have a significant fiscal impact on the state and have a varied impact on local
units of government, depending on whether the local unit of government administers an electric
utility and whether the local unit presently opts out of the program. Specifically, these bills
would increase the low-income energy assistance funding factor from a cap of $1.00 and a total
fund cap of $50.0 million by removing the $50.0 million fund cap and by increasing the funding
factor up to not more than $2.00. These changes would increase the annual revenues deposited
into the Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund (LIEAF) from $50.0 million up to $120.0
million by FY 2028-29.
These bills would then require these additional state funds to support increased energy
assistance spending from modifying eligibility requirements from 150% of the federal poverty
level to 60% of the state median income and removing the limitation on spending outside of
the state-defined crisis season.
POSITIONS:
The following entities testified in support of the bills (11-3-24):
• Michigan Public Service Commission
• Coalition to Keep Michigan Warm
• Michigan Welfare Rights Organization
• The Heat and Warmth (THAW) Fund
• The Salvation Army
• True North
• United Way for Southeastern Michigan
The following entities indicated support for the bills (11-3-24):
• AARP
• Consumers Energy
• DTE
3
DHHS could combine this report with the annual report required under the Michigan Energy Assistance Act.
House Fiscal Agency SBs 353, 880, and 881 and HB 6075 as reported Page 5 of 6
 • I & M Power Company
• Michigan Community Action
• Michigan Conservative Energy Forum
• Michigan League for Public Policy
• Michigan Propane Gas Association
• Oakland Livingston Human Services
• Wayne Metro Community Action Agency
The Michigan Municipal League indicated a neutral position on the bills. (11-13-24)
Legislative Analyst: Rick Yuille
Fiscal Analysts: Kent Dell
Cassidy Uchman
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
House Fiscal Agency SBs 353, 880, and 881 and HB 6075 as reported Page 6 of 6


Statutes affected:
Substitute (S-1): 460.9
Senate Introduced Bill: 460.9
As Passed by the Senate: 460.9
As Passed by the House: 460.9