Overview
- DTE said it will seek a $474.3 million electric rate increase and then pause new requests until 2028 if a planned data center starts service by late 2027 with required approvals in place.
- The filing backs grid upgrades and power projects, including converting the Belle River coal plant to gas and a 220-megawatt battery at the Trenton Channel Energy Center.
- The Michigan Public Service Commission is expected to decide next February, and any approved increase would take effect in late February 2027.
- DTE says two data center contracts will deliver nearly $9 billion through 2045 to strengthen its system and reduce what it must collect from other customers.
- Critics raise cost-shift and reliability risks, with the attorney general challenging approval language and the Van Buren proposal estimated to draw about 1 gigawatt.