Michigan utility companies will need to credit customers $42 a day starting in October to help reimburse residents for expenses incurred during long-duration power outages, state officials announced. 

The Michigan Public Service Commission approved the increase Thursday, an increase from the $40 a day that took effect in 2024. These bill credits are intended to be automatic for qualifying customers. 

The bill credits previously were $25 a day and were only available if a customer asked. 

As a result of the existing law, Michigan utility customers received a total of more than $8.45 million in outage credits to their bills during 2024. To compare, only $1.21 million was issued during 2022. 

The credits are intended to provide some reimbursement to customers who often have out-of-pocket expenses during longer outages, and an incentive to get utilities to restore power outages sooner. A recent study showed that Michigan's electricity reliability during 2023 was the worst in the nation. 

The eligibility requirements for an automatic power outage credit are as follows: 

• 96 hours during catastrophic conditions, defined as a utility having 10% or more of its customers without power.  
• 48 hours during gray sky conditions affecting between 1% and 10% of a utility's customers. 
• 16 hours during normal conditions.