DETROIT (WXYZ) — DTE Energy is asking the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve a nearly $500 million electric rate increase less than two months after a nearly $250 million increase went into effect on March 6.
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The proposal is receiving strong pushback from an independent utility watchdog and metro Detroit residents who say the plan is overpriced and unfair to customers.
"**** outta here," Dimitrius Murphy said upon hearing DTE was seeking a $474 million rate increase.
"They're nickel and diming us so much," Tuawana Meadows said. "It's a terrible thing that they keep hiking the rates on us and people are not getting more money. I mean, it's really hard out here."
"The fact that they keep going up and everything else, they're just trying to make it difficult for the average person out here just trying to make a way for themselves. So it's a tough thing and they definitely make enough money cause I know my bill be high as hell," Murphy said.
DTE says it would pause additional rate hikes until at least 2028 if the Saline data center it is supporting is up and running by late next year and another is approved.
"I don't believe them at all. You can't believe anything that they say," Meadows said.
The Citizens Utility Board, which represents the interests of residential energy customers across the state, is urging the MPSC to deny the rate hike.
"They're going to have automatic increases in 2028 of $154 million, $227.8 million in 2029 and $318 million in 2030," Chris Bzdok, a lawyer for the Citizens Utility Board, said. "A lot of it is driven by an increase in profit margin that they're requesting, an increase in their return on equity that goes to Wall Street shareholders. There's about $100 million there."
"A lot of it is driven based on projects that have been found in, in prior cases not to be cost effective," Bzdok continued. "Make them go back, make them be more efficient — make them. Do not even entertain an increase in the size of the return on equity or the shareholder profit margin. Decrease that and only approve expenditures on projects that have been proven to be cost effective," Bzdok said.
Watch our full interview with Chris Bzdok below:
DTE says data center projects are expected to contribute $9 billion to upgrading the electric system, reducing the amount needed from other customers.
“That’s why we’re excited to see the expected benefits of responsible data center development come to fruition,” DTE CEO Joi Harris said. “This new industry is not only helping to grow Michigan’s economy — once the data centers are fully online, it will make energy more affordable for all customers while bolstering our investments in creating the grid of the future."
DTE says it is committed to keeping its customers’ bills as low as possible while continuing to make upgrades that improve reliability.
Attorney General Dana Nessel vowed to intervene in the latest DTE rate hike case brought before the MPSC.
“Whether it’s massive half-a-billion-dollar rate hike requests or secret data center contracts, DTE continues to treat Michigan families like an open checkbook to satisfy its shareholders,” Nessel said. “As my office scrutinizes this latest filing, I expect to find the same brand of corporate greed we’ve seen every time before, from private jet travel to unsupported costs that do nothing to improve reliability or affordability for Michigan households struggling to keep the lights on. We will expose every outlandish cent and demand the MPSC prioritize utility customers over utility corporations.”
A final decision on the rate hike is not expected until February 2027. Michiganders can submit comments to the MPSC on the rate request online.
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