EXHIBIT 99(b)

                                                      August 14, 2002


Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20549

                  Re:  Consumers  Funding LLC Form 10-Q for the Period Ended
                       June 30, 2002

To Whom It May Concern:

                  As the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer
of Consumers Funding LLC ("Consumers Funding" ), I am submitting this letter to
the Securities and Exchange Commission to explain the facts and circumstances
due to which the Consumers Funding's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
period ended June 30, 2002 (the "Report") is not accompanied by a certification
from me pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906
of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

                  Consumers Funding's sole member is Consumers Energy Company,
which is an electric and gas utility and is a wholly owned subsidiary of CMS
Energy Corporation.

                  As previously disclosed, the Board of Directors of CMS Energy
Corporation, the parent of Consumers Energy Company and Consumers Funding, has
formed a special committee to investigate matters surrounding round trip trades
conducted by CMS Energy's subsidiary, CMS Marketing, Services and Trading
Company. The special committee has begun but has not yet completed its work.

                  Also as previously disclosed, CMS Energy is currently in the
process of restating its 2001 year end balance sheet to adjust for offsetting
receivable and payable amounts of $122 million related to round trip trades, and
restating 2001 revenue and expense of $5 million inadvertently missed in an
earlier reclassification of its 2001 financial statements to eliminate $4.2
billion of revenue and expense (which earlier reclassification is already
reflected in CMS Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2001). This restatement will also adjust the CMS Energy 2000 year end
balance sheet to eliminate approximately $1 billion of offsetting revenue and
expense in that year. Additional adjustments may be required as a result of the
restatement, the special committee investigation or the re-audit work described
below.

                  In addition, as has been previously disclosed, by letter dated
June 10, 2002, Arthur Andersen LLP informed the Audit Committee of CMS Energy
that, in light of the uncertainty regarding (a) when the special committee will
complete its work, (b) what the results of that work will be, and (c) whether
the special committee's work will have a related impact on previously stated
financial statements, Arthur Andersen's auditor reports related to






the consolidated financial statements of CMS Energy and subsidiaries as of and
for the years ended December 31, 2000 and 2001 cannot be relied upon. While CMS
Energy's new auditor, Ernst & Young LLP, has commenced its audit work, to the
extent necessary to support CMS Energy's restatement and filing of a 2001 Form
10-K/A, Ernst & Young has advised CMS Energy that the re-audit work can only be
completed following receipt of certain assurances regarding the results of the
special committee investigation. In addition, while Ernst & Young has initiated
its review of the Consumers Funding financial statements in the Report, it
cannot complete that review until the re-audit work of CMS Energy has been
completed. Therefore, the review required by Section 10-01(d) of Regulation S-X
has not been completed and these financial statements cannot be represented as
fully complying with Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended.

                  In light of the foregoing circumstances, we have not issued a
certification to accompany the Report pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as
adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.


                                         Sincerely yours,

                                         /s/ Laura L. Mountcastle

                                         Laura L. Mountcastle
                                         Chief Executive Officer and Chief
                                         Financial Officer





                                       2