DTE and consumers are demanding too much money from ratepayers, MI attorney general says

Michigan's attorney general has rejected utilities' requests for a rate increase in 2025. Dana Nessel's office argues that DTE and Consumers' Energy vastly overestimate the amount needed to improve service and reliability for residential customers.

The allegations come from Transcript And Briefs Filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission earlier this week.

For its part, Consumers Energy has called for an 8.2% increase in residential rates. Nessel said she is “begging” the Michigan Public Service Commission to remove 70% of that request, calling it “excessive and unjustified.”

“Michigan utility customers already face some of the highest electric rates in the country, the lowest reliability and service standards, and utility partners demanding more and more from increasingly dissatisfied customers,” Nessel said in a news release. “As we have seen time and time again, these utilities put corporate profits ahead of customer needs and improvements.”

Consumers Energy spokeswoman Katie Carey, director of external relations for Consumers Energy, responded in a statement that the rate request is based on the company's plan to implement its reliability roadmap.

“We are disappointed that the Attorney General has chosen to oppose the funding necessary to achieve improved reliability of electrical systems, as demonstrated by her significant proposed reliability violations, including her opposition to our targeted plan to curb the “We are confident in our plan and will continue to work with the Attorney General and other stakeholders to achieve a positive outcome for our customers.”

DTE has requested $456.4 million in rate increases. That means around $11.25 more per month for customers.

The additional fees would cover a variety of expenses, including infrastructure upgrades, merchant credit card fees and increasing automation. DTE said its goal is to reduce power outages by 30% and halve the duration of outages by 2029.

But DTE doesn't need half a billion dollars to do that, the attorney general argued. Instead, she said the commission should adopt the state's proposed $139.5 million rate increase. This is enough to cover the necessary modernizations, according to the expert testimony submitted in the statement.

Some of DTE's proposed upgrades will not benefit ratepayers enough to justify requiring them to foot the bill, the letter says. Spending like automation projects and office renovations benefit DTE more than its customers, Nessel argued.

The Attorney General's Office also argued that DTE failed to provide sufficiently reliable service.

“DTE needs to temper its demands and be held accountable for ongoing service and reliability deficiencies – not rewarded for subpar performance by simply pouring more money into the machine,” the letter said.

DTE expects that the investment will pay off for customers in the near future.

“We are already seeing impacts from our work,” the statement said. “That’s why it’s important that we continue these investments to build a smarter, stronger and more resilient grid that provides our customers with the safe, clean, reliable and affordable energy they deserve now and for generations to come.”

DTE Energy and Consumer's Energy are among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.