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Resource Planning

Resource Planning

On December 21, 2016, Public Act 341 of 2016 (Act 341), an amendment to Public Act 3 of 1939 and Public Act 286 of 2008 (Act 286), was signed into law and became effective April 20, 2017. Public Acts 229, 231, and 235 of 2023 were passed on November 8, 2023 and signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on November 28, 2023.  Public Act 229, which addresses the energy waste reduction standard, and Public Act 231, which makes changes to the Integrated Resource Planning Process, were effective February 13, 2024. Public Act 235, which established the clean energy standard and updated the renewable energy standard was effective February 27, 2024. 

This web page overviews key provisions related to Resource Adequacy, Integrated Resource Plans, Certificate of Necessity requests for utility constructed electric generation resources, and Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity requests for transmission siting approval.  

Resource Adequacy

All load-serving entities (LSE) in Michigan, including electric utilities, cooperatives, municipal utilities and alternative electric suppliers are required to annually demonstrate to the Commission that it has sufficient planning resources four years forward to meet the needs of its customers.

Integrated Resource Planning

  • A utility IRP is a long term-plan that provides a 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year projection on providing the most reasonable and prudent means of meeting the energy and capacity resources of its customers. It explains how it will ensure reliable service and comply with all regulatory and environmental requirements. Public Act 231 (PA 231) was passed on November 8, 2023, and signed by Governor Whitmer on November 28, 2023. PA 231 includes several updates to the IRP statute including updates to the planning parameters, plan filing requirements, and considerations the Commission must review in its evaluation of the plan. The Planning Parameters and Filing Requirements were updates and a final order in Case No. U-21867 was issued on December 18, 2025. For more information regarding PA 231 and updates to the IRP, visit 2023 Energy Legislation.

Certificate of Necessity

  • A utility Certificate of Necessity (CON) is an application requesting that the Commission acknowledge and agree to the need for a large investment in an electric generation plant or power purchase agreement, the pre-approval of which allows recovery of the investment through subsequent regulatory rate case recovery processes. PA 341 of 2016, Section 6S updated the CON requirements developed for the prior energy law, Act 286 of 2008, as well as updated the Commission’s evaluation criteria of the reasonableness and prudence of the CON application request.

    CON applications may request pre-approval of projects exceeding $100 million for the construction, investment in new or existing electric generation resources, or for power purchase agreements between the utility and an independent electric supplier, which meet any of the criteria below:

    • Construction of a new generation facility (fossil, nuclear or renewables),
    • Purchase or make a significant investment in an existing facility, or,
    • Enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA); all projects or PPA’s costing $100 million or more for period of 6 years or more with costs allocated to Michigan retail customers.

    The update to the prior CON standard application filing forms are included by order dated May 11, 2017 in Case No. U-15896.

Energy Storage Planning

Public Act 235 established a statewide energy storage target of 2,500 MW. By Dec. 31, 2029, IOUs will need to file petitions for approvals related to the storage target and Alternative Electric Suppliers will need to file plans for how they will comply with the target. Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) are required to begin filing annual storage reports no later than Dec. 31, 2024. 

On February 8, 2024, the Commission initiated Case No. U-21571 to undertake the work required to develop the storage targets and provide guidance on the required annual storage reports. The activity of that workgroup can be found here.

Public Act 235 also directed the Commission to complete a study on long-term and multi-day energy storage systems by February 27, 2025. That study is available on the Commission’s “Reports, Forms, & Data” website under “Other Reports”, accessible here.

As directed by the Commission’s January 23, 2025 Order in Case No. U-21571, Staff’s annual calculation of each electric provider’s proportional share of the minimum statewide energy storage target is as follows:

2025 Calculation

Alternative Competitive Proposals

  • Act 341 allows a non-utility electric supplier to propose an alternative to a utility CON as described in Section 6s(13) and 6t(6).  An alternative competitive proposal is a project that an independent electric supplier offers as an alternative to a utility-built project. The Commission established filing requirements for these alternative electric generation proposals and these can be found at the following link: 

    • Dec 20, 2017 Order approving Alternative Proposal Filing Requirements (U-15896)

Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

  • Public Act 30 of 1995 established a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for proposed transmission lines that are greater than 5 miles in length and transferred at 345 kilovolts or more. The application for a proposed transmission line meeting this criterion is treated as a contested case with a one-year deadline for the Commission to either grant or deny the request.

    See the MPSC's Facility Siting page for additional information

Regionally Cost Shared Transmission Lines in Michigan 

Public Act 125 of 2021 established requirements for regionally cost-shared transmission lines in Michigan.  Following the approval of regionally cost-shared transmission lines by the recognized electric planning authority, the incumbent electric transmission company must provide notice to the MPSC of its intent to construct within 90 days.  Within 180 days, and quarterly thereafter, the incumbent electric company must provide reports to the MPSC on the project until construction is complete.

The Transmission Infrastructure Planning Act (Act 125 of 2021) is found at 460.591 – 460.593.

Regional Transmission Projects

Select a project to view more details.