- The Michigan Public Service Commision approved a residential rate increase of over $368 million for DTE
- Bills for a typical residential customer bill will rise $6.51 per month
- The commission approved a $30 million rate hike last November that also increased monthly bills
Michigan regulators on Friday approved a $368 million rate increase for DTE Energy that will increase electricity rates for average residential customers by $6.51 per month, or nearly $80 a year.
That’s less than the $622 million rate increase originally sought in February by DTE, the Detroit-based company that serves 2.3 million customers. The company has said it needs to increase rates to improve its grid and speed the transition to clean energy.
The three-member Public Service Commission unanimously approved the 6.4 percent rate increase after conferring behind closed doors. The increase goes into effect on Dec. 15.
Related:
- In settlement with critics, DTE Energy agrees to faster coal phase-out
- DTE wants to quit coal by 2035. Some in Michigan say that’s not fast enough
- DTE Energy cut operations to meet profits months before power outages
The vote came days after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed clean energy bills that mandated utility companies used 100 percent clean energy by 2040.
The new law also requires utility companies to boost their energy-efficiency savings from 1 percent to 1.5 percent.
During debate about the legislation, Republicans voiced concerned that utilities would increase rates to meet the 2040 goal. DTE has said it plans $45 billion in upgrades over the next 10 years.
“We tried to warn everyone this would happen, and it sure didn’t take long,” said House Republican Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus of Cannon Township.
DTE and Consumers Energy, the state’s other major utility, have faced criticism this year for the duration and frequency of outages, the most severe of which left some residents in southeast Michigan without power for a week in February.
Michigan’s outage rate is double the national average and the sixth-highest in the nation, according to federal sources. DTE and Consumers have blamed an older grid as well as trees that get entangled in lines.
“Additional investment in the distribution system is necessary to see meaningful improvement in reliability,” said Commissioner Katherine Peretick during the meeting.
“The reliability of our electric distribution system in the face of increasing severe storms is unacceptable, and the only way to improve is to fix the system.”
The increase comes atop residential bills that the website Statisa estimates are the 11th highest in the nation among states. DTE’s gross profit was $6.5 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
I can’t believe that any increase was approved. We are not one of the wealthiest areas in the US. So why are our bills so much more? Workers from other states who helped during our last storm said our lines were much worse than others they’ve seen.
People who lost power for more than 4 days last February were supposed to get $35 rebate, too, and that never happened.
My bill went up from $156.56 last December 2022 to $421.39 this December 2023! I still have to pay a monthly $350-$400 propane bill during the winter, so I don’t know how anyone can be expected to afford this! Thanks for another thing, to screw over the rural American citizens!
I watch for 3days straight , Davey tree trimming service, trimming trees around power lines, 2 trucks with 5 personal on hand. they sat in their trucks about 5hrs then started trimming trees for 2hrs, so how much is Daveys contract with DTE, because these worker are milking the cow, the 3 days they could of cut down full size trees in half the time, so these workers are helping DTE raise are RATE 6%. Sad to see workers being lazy for a big company like DAVEY TREE SERVICE.