Great Lakes Energy commercial electricity rates in Michigan

• Average commercial price, 202517.53¢per kWh, all commercial customers
• vs Michigan average+21%state commercial average 14.48¢
• Commercial customers11,5894th largest of 24 in Michigan
• Average use1,376 kWha month per commercial customer
• Average bill$241a month per commercial customer
• Since 2015+35%from 13.02¢ per kWh
• Outages315 mina year per customer · US average 124

Great Lakes Energy is an electric cooperative serving 26 counties in Michigan. Among the 24 Michigan utilities in EIA’s 2025 sales data with 500 or more commercial customers, it is the 4th largest, with about 2.0% of the state’s commercial customers. EIA lists it as Great Lakes Energy Coop.

Great Lakes Energy commercial electricity prices, 2015 to 2025

In 2015 Great Lakes Energy billed its commercial customers an average of 13.02¢ per kWh. In 2025 the figure was 17.53¢, so it rose 35% over 10 years. The average for all commercial customers in Michigan rose 37% over the same period. The latest year, 2025, is the highest of the 11 on record here. Between 2024 and 2025 it rose 6.9%.

Average use and average bill are the utility’s commercial sales and revenue divided by its commercial customers and by twelve. The bill is an all-in figure: energy, delivery, demand and fixed charges together. A few very large customers pull both averages up, so most businesses use and pay less than the average.

Residential, commercial and industrial prices at Great Lakes Energy

In 2025 the average commercial price at Great Lakes Energy was 14% below the residential figure and 76% above the industrial one. Larger customers take power at a higher voltage and use it more steadily, so at most utilities the average falls from residential to commercial to industrial. Which class an account falls in is the utility’s decision, and the line between commercial and industrial is drawn differently from one utility to the next.

How Great Lakes Energy’s commercial rates are set

Great Lakes Energy is a cooperative, owned by the members it serves. Its board sets its rates, and in some states the state commission reviews them as well. A commercial account is billed on a rate schedule, chosen by the size of the account and the voltage it takes power at, and a schedule usually combines a fixed monthly charge, a charge per kWh and, above a certain size, a demand charge on the highest rate of draw in the month. The schedule code is printed on the bill. What a business in Michigan can and cannot choose is on the Michigan page.

Meters, time-varying rates and net metering at Great Lakes Energy

EIA counts 11,589 commercial meters at Great Lakes Energy in 2025, and 11,589 of them (100%) are advanced meters (AMI), which record use at least hourly and report it to the utility at least daily. An advanced meter is what makes interval data possible, and interval data is what shows when a building’s peak demand happens.

EIA records 22 commercial net-metered generating systems at Great Lakes Energy in 2025, with 0.32 MW of capacity between them: about 1.9 for every 1,000 commercial customers. Net metering credits a customer for power its own system sends to the grid; the terms are in the utility’s tariff.

How reliable is Great Lakes Energy’s electric service?

Great Lakes Energy customers went without power for an average of 315 minutes in 2025, excluding major storms, with about 2.07 interruptions per customer. The average across U.S. utilities reporting the same way is 124 minutes. With major storms counted the figure was 4,401 minutes. These are averages over every customer of every class, so they describe the system and not any one street.

Where Great Lakes Energy serves

EIA records Great Lakes Energy serving customers in 26 Michigan counties: Allegan, Antrim, Barry, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Clare, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Kent, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Montcalm, Montmorency, and 8 more. A county can be shared between utilities, so this does not tell you who serves a given address. The utility that serves an address is the one named on its bill.

EIA lists MISO as its balancing authority. MISO is one of the organised wholesale markets, which run the grid and the wholesale power market across their area.

Other utilities in Michigan

The average each billed its commercial customers in 2025. The Michigan page has the state’s own figures and every utility with 500 or more commercial customers.

• Consumers Energy (16.22¢)
• DTE Energy (13.93¢)
• Indiana Michigan Power (12.34¢)
• Lansing Board of Water & Light (16.43¢)

What these figures can and cannot tell you

• They are averages over every commercial customer. A utility whose commercial customers are mostly large averages fewer cents per kWh than one serving mostly small shops, so a lower figure can mean larger customers and not a lower rate.
• They are not a rate schedule. None of these figures is a charge printed in Great Lakes Energy’s tariff, and nothing here works out a bill from one. The tariff index lists the utilities whose filed schedules are quoted on this site.
• They are annual and final. EIA publishes utility figures once a year. The Michigan page carries the state’s trailing 12 months, which is more recent and still preliminary.

For one building, the cost estimator gives a range by building type, size and state, and price by utility sets every utility side by side. Commercial vs residential vs industrial compares the classes in every state.

Data: every year of these figures, for this utility and every other with a page, is in one CSV, free to use with credit to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and this site. To cite this page: Great Lakes Energy commercial electricity rates, CommercialElectricityRates.com, from EIA Form EIA-861 final 2025 data.

Common questions about Great Lakes Energy

What is the average commercial electricity rate at Great Lakes Energy?

Great Lakes Energy billed its commercial customers in Michigan an average of 17.53¢ per kWh in 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is 21% above the Michigan commercial average of 14.48¢. It is the utility’s commercial revenue divided by its commercial sales, so it describes the whole class and is not the rate on any one schedule.

How much is the average commercial electric bill at Great Lakes Energy?

About $241 a month in 2025, on average use of about 1,376 kWh a month. That is Great Lakes Energy’s commercial revenue divided by its 11,589 commercial customers. A few very large accounts pull the average up, so most businesses pay less than this.

Have Great Lakes Energy’s commercial electricity rates gone up?

The average Great Lakes Energy billed commercial customers rose 35% between 2015 and 2025, from 13.02¢ to 17.53¢ per kWh. The Michigan commercial average rose 37% over the same period.

How reliable is Great Lakes Energy’s electric service?

Great Lakes Energy customers averaged 315 minutes without power in 2025, excluding major storms, against a 124-minute average for U.S. utilities reporting the same way (EIA).

Does Great Lakes Energy use smart meters for businesses?

EIA counts 11,589 advanced (AMI) meters among Great Lakes Energy’s 11,589 commercial meters in 2025, which is 100%. An advanced meter records use at least hourly, which is what makes interval data and time-varying rates possible.

Is this the rate my business will pay Great Lakes Energy?

No. It is an average over every commercial customer, from a corner shop to a campus. What one business pays depends on its rate schedule, how much it uses and how hard it draws at its peak. The schedule code is printed on the bill, and the schedule itself is in Great Lakes Energy’s tariff.