General Digital Terms & Conditions

Introduction

The Consumers Energy Company (referred to throughout as “Consumers Energy”) website and native app are provided as a service to our customers and visitors to our website. Please review the following terms & conditions that govern your use of the consumersenergy.com website (the "Site") and native app (the “App”). Please note that your use of the Site or App constitutes your unconditional agreement to follow and be bound by these terms & conditions, legal notices, and the privacy policy (collectively, the “Terms”). Consumers Energy reserves the right to update or modify the Terms at any time without prior notice to you. For this reason, we recommend that you review the Terms whenever you use the Site or App. If you do not agree to (or cannot comply with) any of these Terms, do not use the Site or App.

Use of this Site or App

Unless otherwise noted, all materials, including images, text, illustrations, designs, icons, photographs, programs, downloads, video clips, and written and other materials that are part of the Site or App (collectively, the "Contents") are intended solely for personal, noncommercial use. You may download or copy the Contents and other downloadable materials displayed on the Site or App for your personal use only. No right, title or interest in any downloaded materials or software is transferred to you as a result of any such downloading or copying. You may not reproduce (except as noted above), publish, transmit, distribute, display, modify, create derivative works from, sell or participate in any sale of or exploit in any way, in whole or in part, any of the Contents, the Site, the App or any related software. All software used on the Site or App is the property of Consumers Energy or its suppliers and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The Contents and software on this Site or App may be used only as an information resource. Any other use, including the reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication, display, or performance of the Contents of this Site or App is strictly prohibited.

Please note that Consumers Energy does not accept payments through the Online Guest Pay process from collection agencies and third-party agencies, and does not allow access to the Online Guest Pay platform to any such agencies. By using the Online Guest Pay payment platform, you represent and warrant that you are not a collection agency, third-party agency, third-party commercial payor, or a payment aggregator. You agree that any breach of this warranty constitutes a material breach of this agreement. You agree to (i) indemnify Consumers Energy for interchange fees, merchant fees, as well as all other costs and fees in processing a payment transaction in violation of this agreement, and (ii) indemnify Consumers Energy for all other damages, costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees resulting from your breach of this agreement.

Third-Party Sites

References on the Site or App to any names, marks, products or services of third parties, or hypertext links to third-party sites or information are provided solely as a convenience to you and do not in any way constitute or imply Consumers Energy’s endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation of the third party, its information, products or services. Consumers Energy is not responsible for the practices or policies of such third parties, nor the content of any third-party sites, and does not make any representations regarding third-party products or services, or the content or accuracy of any material on such third-party sites. If you decide to link to any such third-party sites, you do so entirely at your own risk. Consumers Energy may make changes to the content and the products, services and programs described in the content at any time without notice.

Please note that Consumers Energy does not accept payments through this process from collection agencies and third party agencies, and does not allow access to Online Guest Pay platform to any such agencies. By using the Online payment platform, you represent and warrant that you are not a collection agency, third party agency, third party commercial payor, or a payment aggregator. You agree that any breach of this warranty constitutes a material breach of this agreement. You agree to (i) indemnify Consumers Energy for interchange fees, merchant fees, as well as all other costs and fees in processing a payment transaction in violation of this agreement, and (ii) indemnify Consumers Energy for all other damages, costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees resulting from your breach of this agreement.

Card Payments: Consumers Energy may limit or restrict certain Commercial and Industrial customer classes from paying with a credit or debit cards. These restrictions do not apply to customers in shut off status. For information about card payment eligibility, please call 800-477-5050.

Site & App Security

You are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Site or App, including, without limitation, (a) accessing data not intended for the user, or logging onto a server or an account which the user is not authorized to access; (b) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (c) attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site or App, overloading, "flooding," "spamming," "mailbombing" or "crashing;" (d) sending unsolicited email, including promotions and/or advertising of products or services; or (e) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. Consumers Energy will investigate occurrences that may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who are involved in such violations. In order to strengthen our network security, Consumers Energy may participate in partnership agreements with private or public entities, including the U.S. Government, that involve the sharing of certain information collected automatically as described in the Privacy Policy. You agree not to use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site or App or any activity being conducted on the Site or App. You agree, further, not to use or attempt to use any engine, software, tool, agent or other device or mechanism (including without limitation browsers, spiders, robots, avatars or intelligent agents) to navigate or search the Site or App other than the search engine and search agents available from Consumers Energy on the Site or App and other than generally available third-party web browsers (e.g., Google Chrome or Microsoft Explorer).

Security issues such as vulnerabilities or misconfigurations can be reported to security@cmsenergy.com.

Mobile App

Consumers Energy also offers a mobile App containing a feature that allows users to upload a screenshot or picture from external storage locations on Android phones. When attaching files from an external storage location, you may be exposing the mobile app and device to unknown malicious code. By opening and attaching files from remote storage, the user assumes all responsibility for any malicious code that may be exposed.

Content and Liability Disclaimer

While Consumers Energy uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information on the Site and App, other than as required under applicable law or regulation, Consumers Energy makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy of the information. Consumers Energy assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omission in the content of the Site or App. Changes may be periodically made to the information at any time, without notice. Consumers Energy believes that information on the Site or App is the most recent available on the date it was posted and Consumers Energy specifically disclaims any duty to update. To the extent the information is contained in forward-looking statements, it is intended to fit within the safe harbor for forward-looking information and is subject to industry and financial factors, as well as future events and developments relating to Consumers Energy’s business that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

By way of example, the outage map on the Site or App is based on estimates and projections, and no representation is made that the posted materials are comprehensive or free from error. During storm-related and other emergency or unplanned outages, the data available may be limited, delayed or not entirely accurate — as circumstances are constantly changing. In some cases, outages may continue to be displayed even though customer restorations are occurring. Individual customer restoration times are always subject to variables that cannot be factored into the general estimates provided. During emergency or "storm mode" conditions, data may be listed as "unavailable".

THE SITE AND APP AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. CONSUMERS ENERGY HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, STATUTORY OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO THE SITE OR APP OR THE CONTENT, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, AS WELL AS ANY WARRANTY OF QUALITY, FUNCTIONALITY, ACCURACY, CURRENCY, COMPLETENESS, RELIABILITY, OPERABILITY, USE PERFORMANCE, SECURITY OR ABSENCE OF VIRUSES. YOU ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE SITE OR APP. Some jurisdictions may not allow for exclusion of implied warranties so some of these exclusions may not apply to you.

IN NO EVENT SHALL CONSUMERS ENERGY OR ITS SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, USE OR DATA ARISING OUT OF USE OF OR CONNECTED WITH THE SITE OR THE APP, OR THE USE OR RELIANCE UPON INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OR ACCESSED FROM THE SITE OR APP, EVEN IF CONSUMERS ENERGY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THOSE DAMAGES.

Trademarks

Consumers Energy’s name and logo, and all related product and service names, design marks or slogans are the registered or pending trademarks or service marks of Consumers Energy or its affiliates. You are not authorized to use any Consumers Energy (or any of its affiliates’) name or mark in any advertising, publicity or in any other commercial manner without the prior written consent of Consumers Energy or one of its affiliates, as applicable.

Applicable Law

These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, without regard to its conflicts of law principles.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Consumers Energy and its affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from or related to your use of the Site or App or any breach by you of these Terms.

Termination

These Terms are effective unless and until terminated by either you or Consumers Energy. You may terminate these Terms at any time, provided that you discontinue any further use of the Site or App. Consumers Energy also may terminate these Terms at any time and may do so immediately without notice, and accordingly deny you access to the Site or App, if in Consumers Energy’s sole discretion you fail to comply with any term or provision of these Terms. Upon any termination of these Terms by either you or Consumers Energy, you must promptly destroy all materials downloaded or otherwise obtained from the Site or App, as well as all copies of such materials, whether made under the Terms or otherwise. The following sections shall survive any termination of these Terms: “Third-Party Sites.” “Site and App Security,” “Trademarks,” “Applicable Law,” “Indemnification,” “Termination,” “Disclaimer,” “Limitation of Liability,” and “Privacy.”

Disclaimer

THE SITE AND APP ARE PROVIDED BY CONSUMERS ENERGY ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. CONSUMERS ENERGY MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE SITE OR APP OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, OR PRODUCTS INCLUDED ON THE SITE OR APP. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, CONSUMERS ENERGY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, CONSUMERS ENERGY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, FOR ANY MERCHANDISE OFFERED ON THE SITE OR APP. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE, BY YOUR USE OF THE CONSUMERSENERGY.COM WEBSITE OR CONSUMERS ENERGY NATIVE APP, THAT YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR APP IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THIS DISCLAIMER DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY PRODUCT WARRANTY OFFERED BY THE MANUFACTURER OF THE ITEM. THIS DISCLAIMER CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THESE TERMS OF USE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Limitation of Liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY, WHETHER IN TORT, CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, SHALL CONSUMERS ENERGY OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, EMPLOYEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, AGENTS, VENDORS OR SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL LOSSES OR DAMAGES OF ANY NATURE ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE CONSUMERSENERGY.COM WEBSITE OR CONSUMERS ENERGY NATIVE APP, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, WORK STOPPAGE, ACCURACY OF RESULTS, OR COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, EVEN IF AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF CONSUMERS ENERGY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT WILL CONSUMERS ENERGY BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF THE FEES PAID BY YOU IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR APP DURING THE SIX-MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING THE DATE ON WHICH THE CLAIM AROSE.

Privacy

You acknowledge that any personal information that you provide through this Site or App will be used by Consumers Energy in accordance with Consumers Energy’s Privacy Statement.