Great Lakes Wire

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed testimony on Tuesday before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), criticizing several requests from DTE Gas in its latest rate case. Nessel argued that the majority of the company's proposed $266 million rate hike, which would represent a nearly ten percent increase for residential customers, is excessive and unnecessary.

DTE submitted its request to raise customer rates in January, asking for a $266 million increase. Nessel counters that DTE should receive no more than a $112.2 million annual increase, equivalent to around a 4% hike to customer bills. Her testimony aims to provide DTE with necessary funding for infrastructure upgrades while ensuring any rate increase remains modest for all customers. The review of this rate hike request revealed that DTE is once again seeking unsubstantiated costs, including an attempt to pass on executive corporate jet travel expenses to customers.

"DTE files these rate hike requests fast and flimsy- we consistently find very little support for many of DTE’s claims," said Nessel. "When the shady details crammed into these filings emerge into the daylight, a lot of the proposed spending is questionable at best, and at times downright insulting to customers."

DTE is currently seeking to increase gas rates for ratepayers in this filing while simultaneously requesting another rate hike for their electric customers in another docket.

Since taking office, Attorney General Nessel has saved Michigan consumers over $3 billion by intervening in utility cases before the MPSC. Today’s testimony reaffirms her commitment to affordable energy for consumers.

DTE provides natural gas services to 1.3 million customers across Michigan and electricity services to approximately 2.2 million customers in Southeast Michigan. This month, AG Nessel urged the MPSC to reject DTE’s two latest requests for ratepayer reimbursements of inflated business-to-business costs.

The Attorney General was successful in January in keeping over $600,000 in unjustifiable costs off the bills of DTE natural gas customers. That same month, she announced her intervention in this rate case wherein DTE is seeking to raise residential gas rates by nearly 10%. In March, the Attorney General intervened in DTE Electric’s latest rate hike request, filed just four months after their last electric rate hike was approved by the Commission.

A copy of the Attorney General’s testimony can be found here (PDF).