Sec. 9t.
(1) The low-income energy assistance fund is created within the state treasury.
(2) The state treasurer may receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the fund. The state treasurer shall direct the investment of the fund. The state treasurer shall credit to the fund interest and earnings from fund investments.
(3) Money in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not lapse to the general fund.
(4) The department of licensing and regulatory affairs shall be the administrator of the fund for auditing purposes.
(5) Subject to the limitations imposed in this section, the department of human services shall expend money from the fund, upon appropriation, as provided in the Michigan energy assistance act, 2012 PA 615, MCL 400.1231 to 400.1236. The department of human services, in consultation with the public service commission, shall ensure that all money collected for the fund from a geographic area is returned, to the extent possible, to that geographic area.
(6) Subject to the limitations imposed in this subsection, the public service commission may, after an opportunity to comment, annually approve a low-income energy assistance funding factor no later than July 31 of each year for the subsequent fiscal year. The low-income energy assistance funding factor shall be the same across all customer classes and shall not exceed $1.00. The amount used by the public service commission to calculate a low-income energy assistance funding factor during each fiscal year shall not exceed $50,000,000.00 minus both the amount appropriated from the general fund in that fiscal year for home energy assistance and the amount remaining in the fund from the prior fiscal year. An electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative electric utility that collects money under this subsection shall remit that money to the state treasurer for deposit in the fund on a monthly basis no later than 30 days after the last day in each calendar month. The electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative electric utility shall list the low-income energy assistance funding factor as a separate line item on each customer's bill.
(7) An electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative electric utility may elect to not collect a low-income energy assistance funding factor under this section by annually filing a notice with the public service commission by July 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, an electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative electric utility that elects to not collect a low-income energy assistance funding factor under this section shall not shut off service to any residential customer from November 1 to April 15 for nonpayment of a delinquent account.
(8) An electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative electric utility that does not opt out under subsection (7), or an association representing a municipally owned electric utility or cooperative electric utility that does not opt out under subsection (7), shall annually provide to the public service commission by July 1 the number of retail billing meters it serves in this state that are subject to the low-income energy assistance funding factor.
(9) Nothing in this act gives the public service commission the power to regulate a municipally owned electric utility.
(10) As used in this section:
(a) "Fund" means the low-income energy assistance fund created in subsection (1).
(b) "Low-income energy assistance funding factor" means a nonbypassable surcharge on each retail billing meter payable monthly by every customer receiving a retail distribution service from an electric utility, municipally owned electric utility, or cooperative electric utility that does not opt out under subsection (7), regardless of the identity of the customer's electric generation supplier. The low-income energy assistance funding factor shall not be charged on more than 1 residential meter per residential site.
History: Add. 2013, Act 95, Imd. Eff. July 1, 2013