JACKSON, MI –Michigan’s electric rates are higher than the national average and are making it difficult for businesses in the state to compete, says a group that advocates for more electric competition.

Energy Choice Now, which released a new report this week, believes Consumers Energy and DTE Energy are monopolizing the market, causing electric rates to be higher than states that allow more choice.

Michigan's average prices for electricity have increased in a year's time and are the highest among four other Midwest states – Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin – and the national average in every customer sector with the exception of transportation, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

DTE Energy in downtown Detroit, Michigan

The state’s 2008 energy-reform law limits competitors of state-regulated utilities — the two largest being Consumers Energy and DTE Energy — to 10 percent of the market. That cap picks winners and losers, said Maureen McNulty Saxton, spokeswoman for Energy Choice Now.

“We’re really hoping that both the Michigan Legislature and the Governor’s office look at the real facts of what has happened to electric rates,” McNulty Saxton said. “(Businesses) are really hoping that legislators hear their plea for relief.”

The group recently lauded House Republicans for making the review of 10 percent cap a legislative priority this year.

Between May 2012 and May 2013, the average retail price of electricity for Michigan’s residential customers went from 14.40 cents per kilowatt hour to 15.11 cents per kilowatt hour, a 4.9 percent increase, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

For industrial customers, that price went from 7.85 cents per kilowatt hour to 8.17 cents per kilowatt hour, increasing by 4.1 percent.

Although Michigan’s electric rates have increased, Michigan residents are paying significantly less in overall costs on their bills than residents in other states, Consumers Energy spokesman Dan Bishop said.

States that have aggressive deregulation of their electric systems are paying a high price and do not have the same reliability as Michigan, he said.

“Michigan electric customers benefit from strong regulation, improved electric reliability and major investments in our electric system,” Bishop said.

Consumers Energy is against raising the cap on competition, saying that it would benefit a handful of customers while the rest would have to pay up to $400 million more a year.

The current law also has allowed the utility to make substantial investments in clean air initiatives and electric reliability, among other things, officials say.

Consumers Energy also has responsibilities that competitors do not, they say. If a rival provider is unable to deliver the energy to the customer, Consumers has a legal obligation to do so.

DTE Energy's bills for its customers are 30 percent lower than the national average, said spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba.

He agrees that full deregulation is not beneficial for Michigan families and businesses and said other states that have gone that direction are now facing higher costs and less electric reliability.

“We continue to work with our families and businesses to keep costs down,” Bodipo-Memba said.