LANSING, Mich. - On March 2, the Michigan 4th District Court of Appeals upheld the code of conduct governing the relationships between utilities and their affiliates. The code of conduct was established on Dec. 4, 2000, by the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) to apply to all Michigan electric utilities.
Among other things, the code includes measures to prevent cross-subsidization, information sharing, and "preferential treatment" between a utility's regulated and unregulated services. Consumers Energy had requested an extension of a waiver to the code for its Appliance Service Plan (ASP). Since the original code was established, Consumers has been granted extensions to comply with the code or to have the code changed or eliminated.