On the heels of DTE Energy filing for another rate increase with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) in late March 2024, this time to the tune of $456 million, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has filed a notice of intervention with the Commission. Nessel noted in December 2023, MPSC approved a $368.1 million electricity rate hike for the giant utility company after DTE initially asked for a $622 million increase.
“This latest rate hike request from DTE is, frankly, absurd in both the astounding dollars and obnoxious timing – requesting yet another $450 million not even four months since their last rate hike was approved,” Nessel said in a statement.
December’s approval equates to DTE residential customers’ monthly rates rising about $6.51. If MPSC approves DTE’s March rate increase request, residential customers’ energy bills are expected to rise another $11.00 per month beginning January 2025.
DTE defends its latest rate hike proposal, saying it’s needed to rebuild and strengthen the company’s electric grid and replace coal plants with lean energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar power panels, all necessary to meet Michigan’s new clean energy goals by 2040.
“Our investment plan is focused on building the grid of the future, improving reliability, and transitioning to cleaner generation,” Joi M. Harris, President & COO of DTE Energy, said during a first-quarter corporate conference call presentation on April 25, 2024, which was posted online by DTE. “We have a robust agenda of $25 billion over the next five years, with about 95% of the investments at our utilities. Our five-year utility investment plan was increased by $2 billion over the previous plan, driven by investments in cleaner generation that is supported by the IRP (Integrated Resource Plan), the energy legislation passed last November, and our voluntary renewables program.”
“DTE is following their usual playbook, incessant and oppressive rate hike requests not grounded in reality, but rather based on the financial aspirations of their corporate shareholders,’ Nessel said in a press statement. “And DTE demands the money without implementing any corresponding accountability or reliability metrics and measures. DTE’s captive ratepayers in Detroit and elsewhere deserve better than this exploitation, where the utility baselessly demands more and more from their customers without promising anything in return by way of increased reliability or accountability.”
Reliability and accountability are key factors that DTE customers consistently want, given several national reports that list Michigan “near the bottom” of states demonstrating high levels of utility efficiency and reliability.
Climate Central, a Princeton, New Jersey-based nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate and energy issues, places Michigan second to Texas for the most major power outages in America between 2000 and 2021. Realizing that almost 50 percent of power outages in Michigan are caused by fallen trees and branches on power lines, in 2021, DTE Energy launched the first-of-its-kind Tree Trimming Academy, giving Detroiters training and employment opportunities to help DTE be proactive in trimming trees around power lines.
Yet, beyond the tree-trimming initiatives, DTE top executives and other stakeholders know more must be done to build the best grid possible.
“I would say that we’ve been investing heavily for the last five years, and over the next five years, I think we will climb that ladder to being at least median performance, and then we’re going to continue to build a best-in-class grid and build a flawless grid for our customers and for the citizens of Michigan,” Jerry Norcia, DTE Energy’s CEO & chairman, said in a 2023 interview with a local electronic news outlet. “They deserve it.”
Norcia added that it would take a decade to build a grid that reaches best-in-class status.
Since MPSC received DTE’s latest rate increase request in late March, the commission is believed to have 10 months to approve or deny the utility company’s proposed rate hike.
“This is outrageous,” said a longtime DTE customer in Detroit, who asked to be identified as Miss Angry. “How can they ask for hundreds of millions of dollars to increase the rate, get it, and then turn right back around a few months later and ask for hundreds of millions again? Somebody make sense of that madness because DTE is not reliable or accountable in big or even smaller storms, but we keep paying them more and more.”
“We are committed to modernizing our electric infrastructure to be more reliable, more resilient given increasingly severe weather, while also delivering cleaner energy to meet our aggressive carbon reduction goals and Michigan’s clean energy legislation, consistent with our most recent IRP,” Harris said during the April 25 corporate conference call presentation based on the meeting’s transcripts posted online. “…At DTE, we are focused on continuous improvement and finding ways to improve efficiency in our processes to maintain customer affordability. Based on our recent rate case filing, the forecasted average annual growth of our residential electric bill will likely be less than half the national average…”
On the same corporate call in late April, Norcia was adamant about reinforcing DTE’s ongoing commitment to its customers by providing efficient and reliable utility services. However, DTE’s top executive went a step further when describing the company’s commitment to giving back.
“We continue to invest in the communities where we live and serve,” Norcia said. “DTE invested $2.7 billion with Michigan businesses in 2023, creating and sustaining more than 12,000 jobs across the state. Last year, DTE also invested nearly $1 billion with diverse suppliers and nearly $900 million with companies based in the city of Detroit. We continue to be a leader in driving Michigan’s economy at all levels.”
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