CMS Energy and Consumers are subject to rate regulation. Consumers’ electric and gas retail rates are set by the MPSC and cannot be changed without regulatory authorization. If rate regulators fail to provide adequate rate relief, it could have a material adverse effect on Consumers or Consumers’ plans for making significant capital investments. Additionally, increasing rates could result in additional regulatory scrutiny, regulatory or legislative actions, and increased competitive or political pressures, all of which could have a material adverse effect on CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations.
Orders of the MPSC could limit recovery of costs of providing service. These orders could also result in adverse regulatory treatment of other matters. For example, MPSC orders could prevent or curtail Consumers from shutting off non‑paying customers, could prevent or limit the implementation of an electric or gas revenue mechanism, or could penalize Consumers for not meeting service and reliability standards. Regulators could face competitive or political pressures to avoid or limit rate increases for a number of reasons, including affordability concerns, economic downturn, reliability and economic justice concerns, or decreased customer base, among others.
FERC authorizes certain subsidiaries of CMS Energy, including Consumers, to sell wholesale electricity at market-based rates and to provide certain other wholesale electric services at rates and terms subject to FERC approval. Failure of these subsidiaries to maintain this FERC authority could have a material adverse effect on CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations. Electric transmission and natural gas pipeline rates paid by Consumers and other CMS Energy subsidiaries are also set by FERC, as are the tariff terms governing the participation of Consumers and other CMS Energy subsidiaries in FERC-regulated wholesale electricity markets operated by regional transmission organizations and independent system operators such as MISO and PJM. At least one CMS Energy subsidiary participates in the wholesale electricity markets operated by ERCOT, over which FERC has limited control.
Consumers also faces regulatory uncertainty resulting from the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s emergency orders issued under the Federal Power Act and associated DOE regulations, which direct continued operation of the J.H. Campbell, as well as similar prior or future executive actions, including the January 2025 and April 2025 executive orders related to energy supply and reliability. The Federal Power Act, DOE regulations, and U.S. Secretary of Energy emergency orders all provide for cost recovery associated with continued operations, but there is not currently a FERC-approved MISO Tariff for recovery of compliance costs associated with the continued operation of J.H. Campbell, and continued operation of J.H. Campbell is not contemplated in Consumers’ current MPSC rates or rate filings at the MPSC. Consumers is pursuing cost recovery at FERC but cannot predict the outcome of those efforts or the impact of other executive actions.
The various risks associated with the MPSC and FERC regulation of CMS Energy’s and Consumers’ businesses, which include the risk of adverse decisions in any number of rate or regulatory proceedings before either agency, as well as judicial proceedings challenging any agency decisions, could have a material adverse effect on CMS Energy and Consumers. Changes to the tariffs or business practice manuals of certain wholesale market operators such as MISO, PJM, or ERCOT, or corresponding impacts such as interconnection delays for new electric generation or storage projects, could also have a material adverse effect on CMS Energy and Consumers.