Dive Summary:

• We Energies recently requested a $242 million rate increase request, which auditors have determined includes more than $34 million that the company wants to pass onto its customers.
• The proposed increase would be an 5 percent increase in 2013 and another 3.6 percent hike in 2014.
• The legal fees We Energies is attempting to cover come from several cases, some of which the utility won and, according to the company, had previously prevented rates from increasing.

From the article:

We Energies ratepayers are used to paying to keep the lights on, but the utility's latest rate increase request is also about paying its lawyers.

Audits of the $242 million request found that it included more than $34 million in legal fees that the company wants to pass on to the utility's 1.1 million electricity customers. ...