DTE Energy wants to raise electricity rates for residential customers, and it's getting push back from the state's Attorney General.
Utilities companies can ask for rate hikes once every year, but that doesn't mean they'll get them. The Public Service commission has to give the ok.
And Attorney General Bill Schuette says DTE's latest request is unreasonable. It would raise rates about $7 a year for the average residential customer – but Schuette points out, DTE just got a rate hike approved last year.
“I am asking the Michigan Public Service Commission to closely examine the request being made by DTE that will raise rates for a second time in just a short period,” Schuette says in a recent statement.
Meanwhile, DTE points out the company didn't even request a rate hike in 2011, 2012, and 2013. And the company says it's had to spend a lot of money lately on aging infrastructure.