Dykema Helps Energy Client Achieve Approval of Settlement Agreement from Regulatory Agency

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved a contested Settlement Agreement last week in Indiana Michigan Power Company's (I&M) Integrated Resource Plan that resolves disposition of approximately $6.7B in electricity generation resources and allowing I&M to serve 131,000 residential and commercial customers in southwest Michigan. In the months leading up to the January 2022 filing, Dykema's Energy Law Team worked with I&M to retain expert witnesses, run modeling, draft testimony, and prepare the application for approval of resources needed to provide electricity to customers.

The Attorney General, Sierra Club, and other environmental groups intervened in the case to oppose I&M's plan. The parties conducted a weeklong evidentiary hearing that included 14 I&M witnesses, followed by hundreds of pages of briefing related to the evidentiary record in the case. Shortly after briefing concluded, the MPSC's Staff broached the prospect of settlement with the Dykema team which ultimately lead to a settlement agreement with several of the parties.

Although the settlement agreement provided for a massive increase in I&M's renewable resources and battery storage, the Attorney General, Sierra Club, and some of the environmental groups opposed the Settlement Agreement because they did not believe it was "green enough." Following the MPSC's process for a "contested settlement," all parties' witnesses filed another round of testimony either supporting or opposing the settlement agreement. A second evidentiary hearing was held to determine whether the Settlement Agreement is reasonable and in the public interest, followed by expedited briefing over the holidays in support/opposition of the Settlement Agreement.

The Commission ultimately approved the contested settlement agreement and I&M's plan for new electricity-generating resources, recognizing that, although no party may have gotten everything they wanted, the Settlement Agreement is a reasonable compromise by the parties. Dykema attorneys Richard Aaron, Jason Hanselman, John Janiszewski, Olivia Flower, Hannah Buzolits, and Cheyenne Benyi participated in this case.