Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Wednesday reaffirmed her commitment to protecting ratepayers, pledging once again to intervene in all major rate cases before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).
The announcement from the attorney general comes as DTE entered a “Filing Announcement” last Friday, announcing its intent to seek yet another natural gas rate hike less than one year since winning approval for its latest $113 million rate hike last November.
While it remains unknown how many additional millions of dollars DTE will seek to bill from their customers in this upcoming rate hike request, the utility corporation opened their previous case seeking to hike residential gas rates by nearly 10% in 2024. A summary of DTE’s new rate hike request is expected to be filed before the formal application, which the corporation indicates it will file in November.
“While we may not know the exact size of this increase yet, history is a good indicator that it will be significant and padded to fill the pockets of shareholders and executives,” Nessel said. “Less than a year ago, DTE won approval for a $113 million gas rate hike, and now they’re already starting the process of asking for more.
Recent rate hike requests from DTE and Consumers Energy have included such costs as private jet travel for executive staff and other unsupported expenditures that could not be demonstrated to be reasonable or pruden, Nessel said.
Rate hike cases currently open before the MPSC include DTE’s latest electric rate hike request (U-21860), Consumers Energy’s electric rate hike request (U-21870), and Consumers Energy’s natural gas rate hike request (U-21806).
The announcement from the attorney general comes as DTE entered a “Filing Announcement” last Friday, announcing its intent to seek yet another natural gas rate hike less than one year since winning approval for its latest $113 million rate hike last November.
While it remains unknown how many additional millions of dollars DTE will seek to bill from their customers in this upcoming rate hike request, the utility corporation opened their previous case seeking to hike residential gas rates by nearly 10% in 2024. A summary of DTE’s new rate hike request is expected to be filed before the formal application, which the corporation indicates it will file in November.
“While we may not know the exact size of this increase yet, history is a good indicator that it will be significant and padded to fill the pockets of shareholders and executives,” Nessel said. “Less than a year ago, DTE won approval for a $113 million gas rate hike, and now they’re already starting the process of asking for more.
Recent rate hike requests from DTE and Consumers Energy have included such costs as private jet travel for executive staff and other unsupported expenditures that could not be demonstrated to be reasonable or pruden, Nessel said.
Rate hike cases currently open before the MPSC include DTE’s latest electric rate hike request (U-21860), Consumers Energy’s electric rate hike request (U-21870), and Consumers Energy’s natural gas rate hike request (U-21806).
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