Introduced
by
To establish new requirements for the governance of certain municipal utilities that would require their governing boards to be comprised of eight commissioners appointed by the municipalities served by the utility; require them to establish emergency response and communications plans; and require customer rates to be equal to the cost of service. The bill was introduced following the report of a body convened to review the Lansing Board of Water and Light’s inadequate response to a massive loss of power to customers following a December, 2013 ice storm. Although the Lansing electric utility serves other municipalities, they are not represented on its board, and the Lansing City Council has imposed surcharges on the utility and its customers related to the city’s own budget issues.
Referred to the Committee on Environment, Energy, and Technology
