Consumers Energy increased its electricity rates year-over-year, including an 18.2% hike in distribution charges from $0.078955/kWh to $0.093333/kWh, a 29.2% rise in PSCR, and a 170% increase in...

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  "signal_type": "reddit-company",
  "signal_subtype": "pricingChange",
  "detected_at": "2026-08-26T15:09:32+00:00",
  "company": {
    "name": "CMS Energy",
    "domain": "consumersenergy.com"
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  "data": {
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    "stage": "confirmed",
    "awards": 0,
    "timing": "completed",
    "topics": [
      "utilities",
      "electricity",
      "pricing change"
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    "post_id": "1vyzrtl",
    "summary": "Consumers Energy increased its electricity rates year-over-year, including an 18.2% hike in distribution charges from $0.078955/kWh to $0.093333/kWh, a 29.2% rise in PSCR, and a 170% increase in IRM surcharges.",
    "category": "price",
    "comments": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p60v0wr/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 314,
        "author": "eatingganesha",
        "excerpt": "pone of the many reasons why we all to need to vote this year is that the provision to ban energy companies and execs from making political donations will be on the ballot. This crap needs to end.",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T15:15:31.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/eatingganesha/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p60wjqr/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 192,
        "author": "UltimateLionsFan",
        "excerpt": "I'm on DTE\n\n and it's a similar situation. I did a whole thread on how they sneakly raised the PSCR\n\n by 7.5X compared to last year (it was tiny last year and much more noticeable this year) so even though my power usage is the same, we're paying an extra $10-20 per month.\n\n Edited for clarity.",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T15:22:00.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/UltimateLionsFan/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p60uesn/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 157,
        "author": "c0rp_53110ut",
        "excerpt": "Just wait til some of these data centers are up and running...",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T15:12:52.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/c0rp_53110ut/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p60y66g/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 46,
        "author": "bunnyfloofington",
        "excerpt": "Go check out the Money Out of Politics ballot initiative\n\n we will be voting on this november! It will help stop the rate hikes from big corporations like DTE and Consumers.",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T15:28:54.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/bunnyfloofington/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p60zwdk/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 43,
        "author": "TeachingOvertime",
        "excerpt": "Groceries are more expensive, gas is more expensive, clothing is more expensive, utilities are more expensive and health/auto insurance are more expensive. Yet, the rich keep getting richer while the rest of the country is going in the opposite direction. So I ask…Are we great enough yet???",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T15:36:15.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/TeachingOvertime/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p60wwxt/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 32,
        "author": "tofuhime",
        "excerpt": "Happening to me right now. I am on the \"budget plan\" and I used way less than $255 worth of energy. Yet they said they're charging me $278 next quarter as I continue to use $100-130 amount of energy.",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T15:23:34.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/tofuhime/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p60uele/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 31,
        "author": "Apex60",
        "excerpt": "Considering they have increased rates in the last year, this makes sense.",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T15:12:51.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Apex60/"
      },
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/comment/p61duph/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 27,
        "author": "Frankfactor517",
        "excerpt": "The shareholders thank you for your support.",
        "posted_at": "2026-08-26T16:34:31.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Frankfactor517/"
      }
    ],
    "evidence": [
      "[post] The distribution charge is the one that surprised me most. Last year it was $0.078955/kWh. This year it's $0.093333/kWh.",
      "[post] A few of the rate changes jumped out: * Distribution: **+18.2%** * PSCR: **+29.2%** * IRM surcharge: **+170%** (although this is a tiny portion of the bill) * Off-peak energy rate: **+4.8%** * On-peak energy rate: **+0.9%**"
    ],
    "virality": "very_high",
    "post_date": "2026-08-26T15:09:32.000Z",
    "post_kind": "text",
    "post_text": "I was curious why my electric bill didn't seem to be dropping much even though we're using less electricity, so I pulled up last year's bill and compared the actual rates.\n\n**2025:** \n1,770.32 kWh \nTotal electric: $389.14\n\n**2026:** \n1,597.95 kWh \nTotal energy charges: $402.88\n\nSo I used about **9.7% less electricity but paid about 3.5% more.**\n\nA few of the rate changes jumped out:\n\n* Distribution: **+18.2%**\n* PSCR: **+29.2%**\n* IRM surcharge: **+170%** (although this is a tiny portion of the bill)\n* Off-peak energy rate: **+4.8%**\n* On-peak energy rate: **+0.9%**\n\nThe distribution charge is the one that surprised me most. Last year it was $0.078955/kWh. This year it's $0.093333/kWh.\n\nDespite using **172 fewer kWh**, I paid **more for distribution** ($149.14 vs. $139.78).\n\nI'm not trying to make this political or claim there's some conspiracy here. I just thought it was interesting to see what actually changed when comparing the bills side-by-side.\n\nAnyone else with Consumers Energy seeing the same thing?",
    "sentiment": "negative",
    "subreddit": "Michigan",
    "event_date": "2026-08",
    "post_flair": [
      "Discussion 🗣️"
    ],
    "post_title": "I compared my Consumers Energy electric bill to the same time last year. I used 9.7% LESS electricity and paid MORE",
    "prominence": "core",
    "source_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1vyzrtl/i_compared_my_consumers_energy_electric_bill_to/",
    "entity_role": "subject",
    "post_author": "scooterhar",
    "upvote_ratio": 0.99,
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    "subreddit_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/",
    "total_upvotes": 1186,
    "comments_total": 181,
    "total_comments": 174,
    "event_date_text": "2026",
    "other_companies": [
      {
        "name": "DTE Energy",
        "role": "competitor"
      }
    ],
    "post_author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/scooterhar/",
    "signal_category": "event",
    "comments_included": 19,
    "products_mentioned": [
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