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SB 956

VSP Central Criminal Records Exchange; removal and repeal of certain reporting requirements.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Richard Stuart

SB 956 bans excessive price gouging for gasoline, propane, and home heating oil during market disruptions, protecting consumers with AG enforcement and potential penalties.

Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0441)
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Bill Summary · SB 956

SB 956 — Energy Pricing Protection Act (summary)

Status: Introduced; referred to Committee on Government Operations (bill information lists introduction date Jan 28, 2025).
Classification/Subjects: Consumer protection; energy; trade/business practices; Attorney General enforcement.

Purpose / Intent

SB 956 (Substitute S‑1) seeks to prohibit extreme or unjustified price increases (“price gouging”) for certain essential energy products and related services during or reasonably after a period of market disruption. The bill is framed to protect consumers’ health, safety, and welfare when access to gasoline, propane, or home heating oil (and services necessary to provide them) is threatened by emergency or other abnormal market conditions.

Key definitions

  • Energy product or service: expressly limited to gasoline, propane, or home heating oil, and services necessary to provide those products. Excludes products/services regulated by the Michigan Public Service Commission, FERC, certain cooperative or municipal utilities and similar regulated entities.
  • Market disruption: a change in the market (actual or imminent) caused by weather/force of nature, production or distribution failures or shortages, strike, civil disorder, military action, war or threat, national/local emergency, or other abnormal market conditions.
  • Excessively increased price: an “unjustified disparity” between the pre‑disruption price and the price during or reasonably after the disruption. A disparity of more than 10% is presumed excessive unless the seller demonstrates the increase is due to increased costs of bringing the product or service to market, or an extraordinary pre‑existing discount.

Prohibitions (during or reasonably after a market disruption)

A person in any chain of distribution for covered energy products/services must not:
- Charge a price that is grossly in excess of prices for similar products/services;
- Charge an “excessively increased price” (per the 10% standard above); or
- Offer for sale at an excessively increased price.

Enforcement and remedies

  • Investigation powers: The Attorney General (AG) or a local prosecuting attorney may serve written investigative demands for testimony under oath and production of documents or tangible evidence relevant to investigations. Testimony and materials are confidential unless an enforcement action is filed.
  • Civil actions: The AG may bring a class action on behalf of persons (or entities) residing in or injured in the state to recover actual damages or $100, whichever is greater.
  • Equitable relief: The AG may seek injunctive or other equitable relief and civil penalties in the name of the people of the state. Courts may appoint receivers, order asset sequestration, require notice to the class (with possible payment by defendants), and limit recovery to actual damages where violations result from bona fide errors despite reasonable procedures.
  • Statute of limitations: AG actions must be brought within 6 years of the act and not more than 1 year after the last payment in a transaction involving the act (whichever period ends later).

(Note: sections on specific civil penalty amounts per violation were partially truncated in the available materials.)

Who is affected

  • Directly: businesses and persons engaged anywhere in the chain of distribution for gasoline, propane, home heating oil, and necessary services for those products (subject to the exclusions noted).
  • Indirectly: consumers and households reliant on these fuels, the Attorney General’s office and local prosecutors (enforcement), and state/local court systems.
  • Exempted/regulated entities: utilities and products already regulated by MPSC, FERC, and certain cooperatives/municipal utilities.

Fiscal and procedural notes

  • Fiscal impact: nonpartisan committee analysis describes the fiscal effect as indeterminate. The bill is permissive (does not mandate enforcement), so state and local costs or additional fine revenues would depend on enforcement intensity and number/severity of incidents. Increased prosecutions could raise litigation, court, and corrections costs; convictions/fines could generate revenue (uncertain deposit destination).
  • Related legislation: SB 956 is tie‑barred with companion bills addressing lodging and commodities/emergency supplies (SB 954 and SB 955).
  • Background/rationale: Sponsors cite examples and testimony that Michigan communities have experienced emergency‑related price spikes and that many other states have similar prohibitions against price gouging.

Limitations / open items

  • Some penalty and procedural language was truncated in available documents, so precise civil fine amounts and some enforcement mechanics are not displayed here.
  • The bill’s effective dates and final status should be confirmed via the legislature’s official docket because multiple document excerpts reflect several bill versions and actions.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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