A2: Utility Rate Hikes
The Associate Press reports that both Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy will impose double-digit rate hikes unless state regulators take action. For Detroit Edison customers, rates would increase 11% starting in July. The article quotes Bonnie Banks, a retired court recorder who lives part of the year in Ann Arbor. “I think it is crummy in this time of hardship. Because of the economy and all the layoffs and our high unemployment rate, it seems like there would be an even larger hardship for people.” [Source]