Michigan’s Attorney General has pushed back on utility companies’ requests for a rate hike in 2025. Dana Nessel’s office argues that DTE and Consumers’ Energy are vastly overestimating the amount needed to improve service and reliability for residential customers.
The allegations come from testimony and briefs filed earlier this week with the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Consumers Energy, for its part, has asked for a residential customer rate increase of 8.2%. Nessel said she “implores” the Michigan Public Service Commission to cut 70% from that ask, calling it “excessive and unjustified.”
“Michigan utility customers are already subjected to some of the nation’s highest electric rates, lowest standards of reliability and service, and utility partners who only ever ask for more and more from increasingly dissatisfied customers,” Nessel said in a press release. “As we have seen time and again, these utilities prioritize corporate profits over customer needs and improvements.”
Consumers Energy spokesperson Katie Carey, Director of External Relations for Consumers Energy, responded in a statement, saying the rate request is driven by the company’s plan to implement its Reliability Roadmap.
“We are disappointed that the Attorney General has chosen to oppose funding needed to achieve improved electric system reliability, as illustrated by her significant proposed reliability disallowances, including her opposition to our targeted plan to mitigate Wildfire Risk. We are confident in our plan and will continue working with the Attorney General and other stakeholders to reach a positive outcome for our customers.”
DTE has asked for $456.4 million in rate increases. That translates to about $11.25 more each month for customers.
The additional charges would cover a variety of expenses, including infrastructure upgrades, merchant credit card fees and increased automation. DTE said its goal is to reduce power outages by 30% and cut outage duration in half 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 rate hike of $139.5 million. That’s enough to cover necessary upgrades, according to expert testimony submitted in the brief.
Some of DTE’s proposed upgrades won’t benefit ratepayers enough to justify asking them to foot the bill, the brief said. Expenses like automation projects and office renovations benefit DTE more than its customers, Nessel argued.
The attorney general’s office also argued that DTE hasn’t provided sufficiently reliable service.
“DTE needs to rein in its requests and be held accountable for continued service and reliability shortcomings – not rewarded for subpar performance by simply dumping more money into the machine,” the brief said.
DTE maintains that customers will see a return on their investment in the near future.
“We’re already seeing impacts of our work,” according to the statement. “Which is why it’s critical that we continue these investments to build a smarter, stronger, more resilient grid that will serve 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.
