generated: '2026-09-06'
method: searched
source: https://utilityapi.com/docs/utilities/consumersenergy
description: >-
  Consumers Energy publishes a real, gated-then-open sandbox for its Green Button Connect My Data
  program: every third party begins in sandbox mode and can only reach named test accounts until
  Consumers Energy reviews the registration and switches them to live. The test scenarios below
  are published verbatim by the program; none were invented.
modes:
  - name: sandbox
    default: true
    detail: >-
      Assigned automatically at registration. Requests can only be made against test accounts —
      real Consumers Energy customers cannot authorize a sandbox third party.
    exit: >-
      Consumers Energy reviews the registration and emails the third party when they may switch
      to Live mode in their settings. It is a human review, not a self-serve toggle.
  - name: live
    default: false
    detail: Real Consumers Energy customer authorizations.
key_prefixes:
  documented: false
  note: >-
    No test-vs-live API key prefix convention is published; the mode is a property of the
    registration, not of the token.
authentication_switch:
  parameter: scope
  grammar: 'auth-{type}[-{value}]'
  full_example: 'scope=FB%3D4_16_51%3BAdditionalScope%3Dauth-test-test_commercial'
  options:
    - value: auth-sso
      takes_value: false
      detail: >-
        Default. Authenticate the customer through Consumers Energy single sign-on (described in
        the docs as OpenIDConnect). Add prompt=on to the authorize URL to force an explicit login
        screen instead of reusing an existing session.
    - value: auth-test-{scenario}
      takes_value: true
      detail: >-
        Skip Consumers Energy SSO entirely and authenticate as the named test scenario, landing
        straight on the OAuth authorization page.
  source: https://utilityapi.com/docs/utilities/consumersenergy
test_accounts:
  - id: test_residential
    scenario: residential
    description: A residential customer with 1 account and 2 services (both electric and gas).
  - id: test_commercial
    scenario: commercial
    description: A commercial customer with 2 accounts and 6 services (both electric and gas).
  - id: test_empty
    scenario: empty
    description: >-
      Error simulation — the customer has no accounts connected to their online profile, or none
      eligible for data sharing.
test_credentials:
  detail: >-
    Because the Consumers Energy flow defaults to the utility's own SSO, the platform's generic
    test usernames do not apply. The program instead publishes a dedicated test-account input
    page reachable from the Consumers Energy utility docs, and the test scenarios can also be
    selected non-interactively via the scope parameter above.
  source: https://utilityapi.com/docs/utilities/consumersenergy
fixtures_and_triggers:
  - name: Forms test-submit
    detail: A dedicated test-submit operation on the Forms API for exercising an authorization form.
    source: https://utilityapi.com/docs/api/forms/test-submit
  - name: Webhook ping
    detail: A `ping` event can be triggered manually per webhook endpoint from settings.
    source: https://utilityapi.com/docs/webhooks
  - name: Third-party OAuth demo site
    detail: >-
      A hosted demo third-party website that can be configured with a real GBCMD client, with
      built-in redirect handling and data processing. A redirect_uri must be added to the client
      first.
    url: https://utilityapi.com/DataCustodian/thirdparty-demo
    source: https://utilityapi.com/docs/greenbutton/oauth
time_simulation:
  supported: false
  note: No test clock or time-travel facility is documented.
arcgis_surface:
  sandbox: false
  note: >-
    The first-party Consumers Energy ArcGIS services need no sandbox — they are anonymous and
    read-only in practice. A `PreProd` folder exists in the REST directory but was empty when
    probed (HTTP 200, services []).
  source: https://www.consumersenergy.com/arcgispublic/rest/services/PreProd?f=json