Regulatory Matters

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Public Utilities, General Disclosures [Line Items]

Regulatory matters are critical to Consumers. The Michigan Attorney General, ABATE, the MPSC Staff, and certain other parties typically participate in MPSC proceedings concerning Consumers, such as Consumers’ rate cases and PSCR and GCR processes. These parties often challenge various aspects of those proceedings, including the prudence of Consumers’ policies and practices, and seek cost disallowances and other relief. The parties also have appealed significant MPSC orders. Depending upon the specific issues, the outcomes of rate cases and proceedings, including judicial proceedings challenging MPSC orders or other actions, could negatively affect CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations. Consumers cannot predict the outcome of these proceedings.

There are multiple appeals pending that involve various issues concerning cost recovery from customers, the adequacy of the record evidence supporting the recovery of Smart Energy investments, and other matters. Consumers is unable to predict the outcome of these appeals.

Regulatory Assets and Liabilities

Consumers is subject to the actions of the MPSC and FERC and therefore prepares its consolidated financial statements in accordance with the provisions of regulatory accounting. A utility must apply regulatory accounting when its rates are designed to recover specific costs of providing regulated services. Under regulatory accounting, Consumers records regulatory assets or liabilities for certain transactions that would have been treated as expense or revenue by non‑regulated businesses.

Presented in the following table are the regulatory assets and liabilities on Consumers’ consolidated balance sheets:



In Millions
December 31	End of Recovery or Refund Period		2018			2017
Regulatory assets
Current
Energy waste reduction plan incentive¹		2019		$	32		$	18
Other		2019		5			2
Total current regulatory assets				$	37		$	20
Non-current
Postretirement benefits²		various		$	1,028		$	1,028
Securitized costs³		2029		273			298
ARO⁴		various		175			161
MGP sites⁴		various		133			142
Unamortized loss on reacquired debt⁴		various		68			53
Energy waste reduction plan incentive¹		2020		34			31
Energy waste reduction plan⁴		various		26			39
Gas storage inventory adjustments⁴		various		4			10
Other		various		2			2
Total non-current regulatory assets				$	1,743		$	1,764
Total regulatory assets				$	1,780		$	1,784
Regulatory liabilities
Current
TCJA reserve for refund		2019		$	98		$	—
Reserve for customer refunds		2019		36			25
Income taxes, net		2019		18			52
Other		2019		3			3
Total current regulatory liabilities				$	155		$	80
Non-current
Cost of removal		various		$	1,966		$	1,844
Income taxes, net		various		1,537			1,564
Renewable energy grant		2043		54			56
Renewable energy plan		2028		42			56
ARO		various		38			50
TCJA reserve for refund		various		35			—
Postretirement benefits		various		—			135
Other		various		9			10
Total non-current regulatory liabilities				$	3,681		$	3,715
Total regulatory liabilities				$	3,836		$	3,795


¹	These regulatory assets have arisen from an alternative revenue program and are not associated with incurred costs or capital investments. Therefore, the MPSC has provided for recovery without a return.


²	This regulatory asset is offset partially by liabilities. The net amount is included in rate base, thereby providing a return.


³	The MPSC has authorized a specific return on this regulatory asset.


⁴	These regulatory assets represent incurred costs for which the MPSC has provided, or Consumers expects, recovery without a return on investment.

Regulatory Assets

Energy Waste Reduction Plan Incentive: In December 2018, the MPSC approved a settlement agreement authorizing Consumers to collect $31 million during 2019 as an incentive for exceeding its statutory savings targets in 2017. Consumers recognized incentive revenue under this program of $31 million in 2017.

Consumers also exceeded its statutory savings targets in 2018, achieved certain other goals, and will request the MPSC’s approval to collect $34 million, the maximum performance incentive, in the energy waste reduction reconciliation to be filed in 2019. Consumers recognized incentive revenue under this program of $34 million in 2018.

Postretirement Benefits: As part of the ratemaking process, the MPSC allows Consumers to recover the costs of postretirement benefits. Accordingly, Consumers defers the net impact of actuarial losses and gains as well as prior service costs and credits associated with postretirement benefits as a regulatory asset or liability. The asset or liability will decrease as the deferred items are amortized and recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost. For details about the amortization periods, see Note 12, Retirement Benefits.

Securitized Costs: In 2013, the MPSC issued a securitization financing order authorizing Consumers to issue securitization bonds in order to finance the recovery of the remaining book value of seven smaller coal-fueled electric generating units that Consumers retired in 2016 and three smaller natural gas-fueled electric generating units that Consumers retired in 2015. Upon receipt of the MPSC’s order, Consumers removed the book value of the ten units from plant, property, and equipment and recorded this amount as a regulatory asset. Consumers is amortizing the regulatory asset over the life of the related securitization bonds, which it issued through a subsidiary in 2014. For additional details regarding the securitization bonds, see Note 5, Financings and Capitalization.

ARO: The recovery of the underlying asset investments and related removal and monitoring costs of recorded AROs is approved by the MPSC in depreciation rate cases. Consumers records a regulatory asset and a regulatory liability for timing differences between the recognition of AROs for financial reporting purposes and the recovery of these costs from customers. The recovery period approximates the useful life of the assets to be removed.

MGP Sites: Consumers is incurring environmental remediation and other response activity costs at 23 former MGP facilities. The MPSC allows Consumers to recover from its natural gas customers over a ten-year period the costs incurred to remediate the MGP sites.

Unamortized Loss on Reacquired Debt: Under regulatory accounting, any unamortized discount, premium, or expense related to debt redeemed with the proceeds of new debt is capitalized and amortized over the life of the new debt.

Energy Waste Reduction Plan: The MPSC allows Consumers to collect surcharges from customers to fund its energy waste reduction plan. The amount of spending incurred in excess of surcharges collected is recorded as a regulatory asset and amortized as surcharges are collected from customers over the plan period.

Gas Storage Inventory Adjustments: Consumers incurs inventory expenses related to the loss of gas from its natural gas storage fields. The MPSC allows Consumers to recover these costs from its natural gas customers over a five-year period.

Regulatory Liabilities

TCJA Reserve for Refund: In February 2018, the MPSC ordered Consumers to file various proceedings to determine the reduction in its electric and gas revenue requirements as a result of the TCJA. For further information on the various TCJA proceedings, see the Consumers Electric Utility and Gas Utility—Tax Cuts and Jobs Act section below.

Reserve for Customer Refunds: The 2016 Energy Law eliminated utilities’ self-implementation of rates under general rate cases, but provided for more timely processing of general rate cases. Consumers filed an electric rate case in March 2017, prior to the effective date of that law, and as result was allowed to self-implement new energy rates in October 2017, subject to refund with interest and potential penalties. Consumers recognized revenue associated with self-implemented rates, but recorded a provision for revenue subject to refund because it considered it probable that it would be required to refund a portion of its self-implemented rates.

Income Taxes, Net: Consumers records regulatory assets and liabilities to reflect the difference between deferred income taxes recognized for financial reporting purposes and amounts previously reflected in Consumers’ rates. This net balance will decrease over the remaining life of the related temporary differences and flow through current income tax benefit. For additional details on deferred income taxes, see Note 14, Income Taxes.

At December 31, 2017, Consumers measured its deferred tax assets and liabilities using the 21 percent federal tax rate enacted in the TCJA. Due to the lower corporate tax rate, Consumers reduced its net deferred tax liabilities associated with its utility book-tax temporary differences by $1.6 billion and recorded an offsetting regulatory liability. For further information on Consumers’ proposal to return this to customers, see the Consumers Electric Utility and Gas Utility—Tax Cuts and Jobs Act section below.

Cost of Removal: The MPSC allows Consumers to collect amounts from customers to fund future asset removal activities. This regulatory liability is reduced as costs of removal are incurred. The refund period of this regulatory liability approximates the useful life of the assets to be removed.

Renewable Energy Grant: In 2013, Consumers received a $69 million renewable energy grant for Lake Winds^® Energy Park, which began operations in 2012. This grant reduces Consumers’ cost of complying with Michigan’s renewable portfolio standard and, accordingly, reduces the overall renewable energy surcharge to be collected from customers. The regulatory liability recorded for the grant will be amortized over the life of Lake Winds^® Energy Park.

Renewable Energy Plan: Consumers has collected surcharges to fund its renewable energy plan. Amounts not yet spent under the plan are recorded as a regulatory liability, which is amortized as incremental costs are incurred to operate and depreciate Consumers’ renewable generation facilities and to purchase RECs under renewable energy purchase agreements. Incremental costs represent costs incurred in excess of amounts recovered through the PSCR process.

Consumers Electric Utility and Gas Utility

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: The TCJA, which changed existing federal tax law and included numerous provisions that affect businesses, was signed into law in December 2017. In February 2018, the MPSC ordered Consumers to file various proceedings to determine the reduction in its electric and gas revenue requirements as a result of the TCJA. The MPSC also ordered Consumers to implement bill credits to reflect that reduction until customer rates are adjusted through Consumers’ general rate cases. Consumers filed the first of these proceedings in March 2018, requesting a $49 million reduction in its annual gas revenue requirement. The MPSC approved this reduction in June 2018, with credits to customer bills beginning in July 2018; this credit ended with the settlement of the gas rate case in August 2018. Consumers filed the second proceeding in April 2018, requesting a $113 million reduction in its annual electric revenue requirement. The MPSC approved this reduction in July 2018, with credits to customer bills beginning in August 2018; this credit ended with the settlement of the electric rate case in January 2019. These credits reduced rates prospectively for the impact of the TCJA but did not include potential refunds associated with Consumers’ remeasurement of its deferred income taxes.

Consumers filed two more proceedings to address amounts collected from customers during 2018 through the implementation of the first two proceedings. Consumers filed the first of these proceedings in August 2018, requesting to refund $31 million to gas customers over six months beginning in December 2018. The MPSC approved this refund in November 2018. Consumers filed the second proceeding in September 2018, requesting to refund $70 million to electric customers over six months beginning in January 2019. The MPSC approved this refund in December 2018. Consumers has recorded a current regulatory liability in an amount reflecting these approved refunds.

In October 2018, Consumers filed an application to address the December 31, 2017 remeasurement of its deferred income taxes and other base rate impacts of the TCJA on customers. The application requested approval to begin returning $0.4 billion of net regulatory tax liabilities through rates to be determined in a future gas proceeding and $1.2 billion through the rates determined in Consumers’ next-filed electric rate case. Consumers’ total $1.6 billion of net regulatory tax liabilities comprises:


•	A regulatory tax liability of $1.7 billion associated with plant assets that are subject to normalization, which is governed by the Internal Revenue Code. This requires that the regulatory tax liability be returned over the remaining book life of the related plant assets, the average of which is 44 years for gas plant assets and 27 years for electric plant assets.


•	A regulatory tax asset of $0.3 billion associated with plant assets that are not subject to normalization. Consumers proposed to collect this over 44 years from gas customers and over 27 years from electric customers.


•	A regulatory tax liability of $0.2 billion, which is primarily related to employee benefits. Consumers proposed to refund this amount to customers over 15 years.

In January 2018, Consumers began to reduce this net regulatory tax liability by crediting income tax expense. Consumers has fully reserved for the eventual refund of these excess deferred taxes that it has credited to income tax expense in a separate non‑current regulatory liability established by reducing revenue, and will continue to do so until these benefits are passed on to customers in accordance with an MPSC order. For additional details on the remeasurement, see Note 14, Income Taxes.

Consumers Electric Utility

2017 Electric Rate Case: In March 2017, Consumers filed an application with the MPSC seeking an annual rate increase of $173 million, based on a 10.5 percent authorized return on equity. The filing requested authority to recover new investment in system reliability, environmental compliance, and technology enhancements. In September 2017, Consumers reduced its requested annual rate increase to $148 million. In October 2017, Consumers self-implemented an annual rate increase of $130 million, subject to refund with interest and potential penalties. The MPSC issued an order in March 2018, authorizing an annual rate increase of $66 million, based on a 10.0 percent authorized return on equity. In June 2018, as a result of a petition for rehearing filed by Consumers, the MPSC issued an order adjusting the authorized annual rate increase to $72 million by allowing recovery of additional retirement benefit plan costs. In July 2018, Consumers filed a reconciliation of total revenues collected during self-implementation to those that would have been collected under final rates. The reconciliation indicated that a $36 million refund would be required, which was recorded on Consumers’ consolidated balance sheets as a current regulatory liability at December 31, 2018. In its filing, Consumers proposed refunding this amount to customers in February 2019.

2018 Electric Rate Case: In May 2018, Consumers filed an application with the MPSC seeking an annual rate increase of $58 million, based on a 10.75 percent authorized return on equity. In October 2018, Consumers reduced its requested annual rate increase to $44 million. The filing requested authority to recover new investment in system reliability, environmental compliance, and technology enhancements. In January 2019, the MPSC approved a settlement agreement authorizing an annual rate decrease of $24 million, based on a 10.0 percent authorized return of equity. With the elimination of the $113 million TCJA credit to customer bills, the approved settlement agreement results in an $89 million increase in annual rates. In lieu of the investment recovery mechanism requested by Consumers, the settlement agreement provides for deferred accounting treatment for distribution-related capital investments exceeding certain amounts. Consumers also agreed to not file a new electric rate case prior to January 2020.

Consumers Gas Utility

Gas Rate Case: In October 2017, Consumers filed an application with the MPSC seeking an annual rate increase of $178 million, based on a 10.5 percent authorized return on equity. In March 2018, Consumers reduced its requested revenue requirement to $145 million, before taking into consideration any impact of the TCJA. Consumers further reduced its requested revenue requirement to $83 million to reflect the impact of the TCJA, offset partially by an increase in the authorized return of equity to 10.75 percent to compensate for the anticipated negative effects of tax reform on Consumers’ cash flows from operating activities. In July 2018, Consumers reduced its requested revenue requirement to $60 million, based on a 10.0 percent authorized return on equity.

In August 2018, the MPSC approved a settlement agreement authorizing an annual rate increase of $11 million, based on a 10.0 percent authorized return on equity. With the elimination of the $49 million TCJA credit to customer bills, the approved settlement agreement results in a $60 million increase in annual rates. The MPSC also approved two rate adjustment mechanisms: a revenue decoupling mechanism and an investment recovery mechanism. The revenue decoupling mechanism will annually reconcile Consumers’ actual weather-normalized non‑fuel revenues with the revenues approved by the MPSC. The investment recovery mechanism will provide for an additional annual rate increase of $9 million beginning in July 2019 and another $10 million beginning in July 2020 for incremental investments that Consumers plans to make in those years, subject to reconciliation. The investment recovery surcharge will remain in effect until rates are reset in a subsequent general rate case.

Power Supply Cost Recovery and Gas Cost Recovery

The PSCR and GCR ratemaking processes are designed to allow Consumers to recover all of its power supply and purchased natural gas costs if incurred under reasonable and prudent policies and practices. The MPSC reviews these costs, policies, and practices in annual plan and reconciliation proceedings. Consumers adjusts its PSCR and GCR billing charges monthly in order to minimize the underrecovery or overrecovery amount in the annual reconciliations. Underrecoveries represent probable future revenues that will be recovered from customers; overrecoveries represent previously collected revenues that will be refunded to customers.

Presented in the following table are the assets and liabilities for PSCR and GCR underrecoveries and overrecoveries reflected on Consumers’ consolidated balance sheets:



In Millions
December 31	2018			2017
Assets
GCR underrecoveries		16			—
Accrued gas revenue		$	16		$	—
Liabilities
PSCR overrecoveries		$	4		$	27
GCR overrecoveries		—			6
Accrued rate refunds		$	4		$	33

PSCR Plans and Reconciliations: In June 2018, the MPSC approved a settlement agreement in Consumers’ 2016 PSCR reconciliation, authorizing recovery of $1.9 billion of power costs and authorizing Consumers to reflect in its 2017 PSCR reconciliation the overrecovery of $12 million.

In March 2018, Consumers filed its 2017 PSCR reconciliation, requesting full recovery of $1.9 billion of power costs and authorization to reflect in its 2018 PSCR reconciliation the overrecovery of $32 million.

Consumers submitted its 2018 PSCR plan to the MPSC in September 2017 and, in accordance with its proposed plan, self-implemented the 2018 PSCR charge beginning in January 2018.

GCR Plans and Reconciliations: In May 2018, the MPSC approved a settlement agreement in Consumers’ 2016-2017 GCR reconciliation, authorizing full recovery of $0.5 billion of gas costs and authorizing Consumers to reflect in its 2017-2018 GCR reconciliation the overrecovery of $2 million.

In June 2018, Consumers filed its 2017-2018 GCR reconciliation, requesting full recovery of $0.6 billion of gas costs and authorization to reflect in its 2018-2019 GCR reconciliation the overrecovery of $1 million.

In October 2018, the MPSC approved a settlement agreement in Consumers’ 2018-2019 GCR plan, authorizing the 2018-2019 GCR factor that Consumers self-implemented beginning in April 2018.

Consumers Energy Company