Lansing — DTE Energy said it will seek another increase in the electricity rates it charges customers in Michigan, just days after state regulators approved a $242 million rate hike.
In a Tuesday filing with the Michigan Public Service Commission, DTE’s attorneys said they plan to submit a formal application sometime around April 27. The filing didn’t detail how large of an increase in rates the Detroit-based utility would pursue.
Five days before the filing, announcing the upcoming case, the three-member commission approved a rate increase of 4.6% for a typical DTE electric customer.
In a statement on Friday, Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said it was “astonishing” that Michigan’s system allows DTE to announce a new rate case less than a week after locking in its last rate increase.
“How many times are Michigan families expected to reach deeper into their pockets to bankroll record profits and shareholder dividends for DTE and Consumers Energy’s Wall Street investors, while reliability and affordability remain out of reach?” Nessel asked in a press release. “The Michigan Public Service Commission must wake up to the impacts their constant rate hike approvals are having on utility ratepayers across our state.”
The commission’s three members were appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The panel’s job is to decide whether proposed rate increases are just and reasonable.
On DTE’s last rate hike, Matt Paul, president and chief operating officer of DTE Electric, said the commission’s decision to approve a $242 million increase continued investments that made 2025 the most reliable year for DTE customers in nearly two decades.
“At the same time, we remain focused on keeping bills as low as possible for our customers,” Paul added. “Since 2021, DTE’s electric bill growth has been among the lowest in the country compared to other states. Our actual bills remain below the Great Lakes region and national averages.”
However, a January Detroit News investigation found the price of electricity for residential customers in Michigan had more than doubled in the past 20 years, outpacing inflation and increasing at higher percentages than the rates in 46 other states.
The rates charged are a different metric than the actual bills customers pay, which Paul appeared to be referring to. In states with warmer temperatures where air conditioning is used more frequently, customers could pay higher bills while having lower rates.
In a statement Friday, DTE Energy spokeswoman Jill Wilmot said the company will “continue to invest to deliver the energy our customers demand and deserve.”
“Our upcoming filing in late April will be the start of a 10-month process — a rate adjustment will not occur until 2027,” Wilmot said.
DTE Energy sells electricity to about 2.3 million customers in southeast Michigan, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission.
DTE Energy reports increase in earnings
A week before announcing its Feb. 24 plans to seek another rate increase, DTE reported on Feb. 17 that its 2025 earnings totaled nearly $1.5 billion, an increase from its 2024 earnings of $1.4 billion.
“DTE’s strong results in 2025 reflect our disciplined strategy and commitment to delivering value for our customers and shareholders,” said David Ruud, DTE’s vice chairman and chief financial officer.
Under Michigan law, utilities can launch new rate cases every 12 months. Some utility critics have cited the frequency of cases as a reason that rates have jumped in Michigan.
DTE announced plans to file its last rate case on Feb. 21, 2025, a year and three days before the new announcement was submitted.
A bill, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, is pending in the Michigan Senate to set a three-year period between a utility’s applications for new rate increases.
“We’re just on this constant cycle,” Hertel said Friday about applications for rate increases.
Having a three-year window would create more stability for Michigan residents, he argued.
But, in a call with investors in February, Garrick Rochow, the CEO of Michigan’s other dominant electric utility, Jackson-based Consumers Energy, contended that “smaller little bites at the apple” were “a great approach,” when asked about spacing out rate cases.
“And when we go in annual rate cases, we’re able to pass savings back to our customers,” Rochow said, according to a transcript posted on the utility’s website. “We’re able to make sure that those increases are more in line with inflation or better than inflation.”
Candidates take issue with the rate increase plan
On Friday, candidates for Michigan governor and U.S. Senate blasted the news of DTE’s plan to seek another rate increase.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Leonard, a former state House speaker from DeWitt, vowed to remove the three members of the Michigan Public Service Commission if they approve DTE’s upcoming application.
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor posted on X that “corporations like DTE will never be satisfied.”
“They will squeeze every penny they can from us until we elect leaders that are not beholden to them and willing to stand up for the people,” El-Sayed wrote.
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