WattWatch/All Michigan utilities
Investor-owned utility
DTE Electric Company
DTE Electric rates rose 25% since 2019 — the average bill went from $101 to $123 a month.
Computed as revenue ÷ sales from DTE Electric’s own EIA-861 filings, 2019–2024. Not adjusted for inflation. See where that ranks.
The Michigan Public Service Commission sets your rates
Rate changes go through a public docket. Filings, hearing dates, and comment deadlines are matters of public record, and you can file a comment on them.
Dates you could act on
- November 12, 2026U-22080 · prehearing conference
Pre-hearing before ALJ Jacqueline Langwith by video/teleconference; any interested person may participate.
- November 12, 2026U-22057 · hearing
Prehearing conference before ALJ Jonathan F. Thoits by video/teleconference; any interested person may participate.
- November 5, 2026U-22080 · filing deadline
Deadline to electronically file a petition to intervene.
- November 5, 2026U-22057 · filing deadline
Deadline to file a petition to intervene and become a party.
What is still undecided
These cases are open before the Commission — some are DTE Electric’s own requests, others the Commission opened on its own motion. Undecided is the only window in which a comment from you counts for anything, so these are the ones worth watching.
- Requested$474.3M
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to raise its electric rates and change its rate schedules, seeking roughly $474.3 million with new rates proposed to start as early as March 1, 2027, largely tied to grid reliability, generation, and storage investments. A prehearing is set for May 27, 2026 by video/teleconference, and anyone wanting to become a party must file a petition to intervene by May 19, 2026. Customers can also send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22046 to the Commission by email or mail, or attend the hearing to make a statement.
- U-21595notice PDFRequested$109.2M
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve how it reconciled its 2025 power supply costs, and to carry an under-recovery of $109,166,402 forward as the starting balance for its 2026 power supply cost reconciliation. A pre-hearing is set for May 7, 2026 at 9:00 AM by video/teleconference, and any interested person may take part. Customers can also send a written comment referencing Case No. U-21595 by email or mail, or speak at the hearing by filing an appearance.
- U-22124notice PDFRequested$0.5M
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to review and settle up its 2025 Demand Response program costs, and to record a $461,021 revenue requirement difference as a regulatory liability to be handled in its next general rate case over up to five years. A prehearing is set for August 20, 2026 at 9:00 AM by video/teleconference, and anyone interested may take part. Customers may also send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22124 to the Commission, or file a petition to intervene by August 13, 2026.
This docket is a Commission-opened proceeding to study how to make Michigan's electric grid more reliable and able to withstand severe storms. The orders direct Commission Staff and utilities to hold technical conferences and workshops, collect comments, file reports, and take steps on topics such as critical facility resilience, undergrounding of power lines, and coordination with local governments and emergency responders. No rates, revenue amounts, or bill changes were set or approved in these orders, so there is no direct effect on a residential bill from this case.
This order keeps an information-gathering docket open where Michigan's regulated electric, gas, and steam utilities report twice a year on the federal funding they are seeking for infrastructure projects. The Commission summarized which federal programs have been paused or cancelled and which new ones are available, and asked utilities and transmission companies to keep filing updates. No rates or charges were set or changed, so there is no direct effect on a residential bill from this order.
This is an ongoing Commission-initiated proceeding, not a rate case. The Commission created a workgroup to develop measures of electric reliability and distribution performance and to design financial rewards and penalties tied to how utilities perform. In these orders the Commission collected public comments, adopted a performance mechanism for Consumers Energy and DTE Electric with a $10 million yearly cap on the total reward or penalty for 2026, and requested further comments on a 'reliability-plus' straw proposal. No retail rates or bill amounts were set in these orders, so there is no direct change to a residential bill from them; any financial effect would be handled later in separate utility-specific or rate proceedings.
- U-22076notice PDF
This is an administrative order that assigns case numbers for upcoming 2027 and 2027-2028 power supply cost recovery, gas cost recovery, and steam supply cost recovery plan and reconciliation filings. It directs each listed electric, gas, and steam utility to file those applications under the assigned numbers. No rates, costs, or bill amounts were decided, so there is no effect on residential bills from this order.
This docket was opened so that electric utilities can file transportation electrification plans describing their electric-vehicle-related plans and investments. In the December 21, 2023 order, the Commission directed DTE Electric to file its plan in this docket. In the July 10, 2025 order, the Commission granted temporary waivers from the plan filing requirement to three small utilities: Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation, Northern States Power Company, and Alpena Power Company. The Commission stated these waivers do not change rates or rate schedules, so there is no effect on residential bills.
- U-22168notice PDF
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve its long-term electricity resource plan and clean energy plan, including approval (Certificates of Necessity) for a roughly 1,400 MW project in Livingston County and a roughly 700 MW project in Monroe County, along with how those projects would be financed and their costs recovered from customers. A prehearing is set for October 23, 2026, held by video or teleconference. Customers can send written comments referencing Case No. U-22168 to the Commission by email or mail, attend the hearing to make a statement, or request a free copy of the application from DTE Electric at (800) 477-4747.
The Commission opened its own investigation into how Consumers Energy, DTE Electric, and Indiana Michigan Power responded to the July 3, 2026 severe storms that left hundreds of thousands of customers without power during a stretch of extreme heat. Each utility must file a detailed report by August 27, 2026 covering storm preparation, crew deployment, downed-wire handling, and the accuracy of its restoration time estimates, along with a plan for improvements. This order does not change rates or bills for residential customers.
- U-22011notice PDF
DTE Electric and DTE Gas have asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve the annual reconciliation of their 2025 Energy Waste Reduction programs, including performance incentives, related tariffs, and surcharges, and to carry forward stated under-recovery balances ($52.5 million for DTE Electric and $5.0 million for DTE Gas) into 2026. A prehearing is set for August 5, 2026 at 10:30 AM by video/teleconference before an administrative law judge. Customers may attend and make a statement, send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22011, or file a petition to intervene by July 29, 2026.
- U-22027notice PDF
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to review and approve its 2025 renewable energy costs and revenues, and to keep its existing rates and renewable energy surcharges in place. A prehearing is set for August 11, 2026, by video or teleconference, and customers may attend, ask to make a statement, or send written comments referencing Case No. U-22027. Anyone who wants to become a formal party must file a petition to intervene by August 4, 2026, and free copies of the application are available from DTE Electric or on the Commission's website.
- U-22061notice PDF
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to change its Rate D11 and add a new provision for very large electricity users, such as customers needing more than 100 MW, including a minimum monthly billing amount, administrative fees, a termination fee, and collateral requirements. The Commission has not decided the case; a prehearing is set for April 28, 2026 by video/teleconference. Customers can attend that hearing, file a written comment referencing Case No. U-22061, or file a petition to intervene by April 21, 2026.
- U-22057notice PDFRequested$0M
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve an amended plan for meeting Michigan's renewable energy requirements, including how the costs of renewable energy contracts and company-owned renewable systems are recovered from customers; the company proposes a $0.00 surcharge under its revenue recovery mechanism through 2029. A prehearing is set for November 12, 2026 by video/teleconference, and anyone may attend or send a written comment referencing Case No. U-22057. People who want to become formal parties had to file a petition to intervene by November 5, 2026.
- U-22080notice PDF
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve the plan and cost factor it will use to charge customers for the fuel and power it buys in 2027, including a maximum power supply cost recovery factor of 12.98 mills per kilowatt-hour for January 1 through December 31, 2027. A pre-hearing is set for November 12, 2026 by video/teleconference, and anyone wishing to become a party must file to intervene by November 5, 2026. Customers who simply want to be heard can mail or email a written comment referencing Case No. U-22080 at any time.
What changed your bill
- Requested$600.5MApproved$600.5M
The Commission approved DTE Electric's request to issue securitization bonds covering up to $600.5 million of costs, made up of $236.7 million for retired Belle River coal handling assets, $16.0 million related to Midwest Energy Resources Company, $340.2 million of remaining tree trimming costs, and $7.5 million of issuance costs, plus about $700,000 per year of ongoing costs. Customers will see two new per-kilowatt-hour securitization charges on their bills, one tied to power supply costs collected over about 14 years and one tied to tree trimming costs collected over about 5 years, beginning with the first billing cycle after the bonds are sold. Bill credits will also be applied until the same costs are taken out of base rates in DTE Electric's next general rate case. The Commission found the securitization financing costs less than conventional financing by at least $62.4 million in present-value terms.
Everything else on the docket (11)
Procedural orders, reconciliations, and cases where no approved figure could be sourced. Kept for completeness — none of these carries a number we can tie to your bill.
DTE Electric asked the Commission for approval of its power supply cost recovery plan for the 12 months ending December 31, 2026, including a requested maximum levelized PSCR factor of 18.77 mills per kilowatt-hour. DTE Electric, Commission Staff, and an intervening business group reached a settlement agreement resolving all issues, and the Attorney General did not object. On October 15, 2026, the Commission approved the settlement agreement. The order itself does not state a revenue amount or a dollar change to a typical residential bill.
This docket is DTE Electric's integrated resource plan, which the Commission approved by settlement in 2023. The documents here are follow-up orders in which the Commission approved specific solar projects, battery storage projects, power purchase agreements, and the related construction and equipment contracts that DTE selected through competitive bidding under that plan. The Commission said it will review the final project costs for reasonableness in a later rate case or reconciliation proceeding. These orders do not set electric rates, and the Commission stated that the approvals do not change rate schedules or increase the cost of service to customers at this time.
The Commission conditionally approved two special contracts between DTE Electric and Google LLC covering electric service to a planned 1.0 gigawatt data center in Van Buren Township. Approval is conditioned on DTE's written acceptance that Google's payments must cover the costs of serving it, that no cap applies to what Google or DTE contribute toward infrastructure upgrades needed to serve the site, and that operating requirements can be updated as regulators direct. This order does not change retail rates or the revenue requirement, so it does not by itself change a residential customer's monthly bill.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement resolving DTE Electric's annual reconciliation of its infrastructure/electric investment recovery mechanism surcharge for the 12 months ending December 31, 2025. The settlement accepts DTE Electric's 2025 capital investment costs under the mechanism and finds the company collected $86,719 more than the mechanism allowed. That over-collection will be recorded as a regulatory liability and returned to customers through a future general rate case, so this order itself does not change current residential rates.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement in DTE Electric's depreciation case, accepting the company's proposed depreciation accrual rates, including a 15-year life (6.67% rate) for utility-scale battery storage and estimated decommissioning costs for wind and solar facilities. The settlement raises DTE Electric's annual depreciation accruals by $143,697,240 compared with currently approved levels, and those new depreciation rates are to be built into rates in the company's next general rate case. This order is an accounting approval and does not by itself change customer rates or residential bills.
This case covers Alpena Power Company's yearly accounting review of what it collected and spent on its energy waste reduction (energy efficiency) programs for the 12 months ending December 31, 2025. Alpena and the Commission Staff reached a settlement agreement resolving all issues, and on September 10, 2026 the Commission approved it. The orders do not set new base rates or state a change to a typical residential monthly bill; the application had asked to carry a 2025 under-recovery of $37,153 forward into the 2026 plan year.
This case covers DTE Electric's expedited pilot review process. The Commission approved the company's workplan in April 2025, which sets out five focus areas for future pilot proposals but does not itself create any program. In September 2026 the Commission approved a two-year Residential Battery Virtual Power Plant pilot at the Veridian community, where up to 100 participating customers' home batteries can be dispatched by the utility in exchange for a performance-based incentive, and directed Staff to convene a workgroup on improvements. The orders do not set retail rates or change the bill of a typical residential customer.
The Commission approved DTE Electric's update to the Emergency Electrical Procedures in its rate book, as modified. Very large new customers — those starting service after October 1, 2025 with at least 500 megawatts of capacity, or served under the Large Load Provision of Rate Schedule D11 — will have their firm load shed before other customers when doing so can prevent cutting other customers' power. The Commission declined to adopt one of DTE's two proposed changes as unnecessary. The order does not change rates and has no effect on residential bills.
The Commission approved a settlement agreement in Alpena Power Company's annual review of its renewable energy plan costs for the 12 months ending December 31, 2025. The settlement states that Alpena had $(875.89) in renewable energy credit expenses and collected no surcharge revenue during the year, and the company asked for no change in what it collects from customers. The reconciliation also records a year-end regulatory liability of $439,754.05, including interest, which carries forward as the starting balance in next year's reconciliation case. No residential rates were changed by this order.
These orders approve DTE Electric's special contract with Ford Motor Company under the company's voluntary green pricing (MIGreenPower) program and the solar projects built to serve it, including the Cold Creek, Deckerville, and Northwood solar parks along with their equipment supply and construction contracts. The Commission found the projects consistent with DTE Electric's approved renewable energy plan and said final project costs will be reviewed later in a renewable energy reconciliation proceeding. The Commission stated that these approvals will not change rates or rate schedules or increase the cost of service to customers, so there is no change to a typical residential bill from these orders.
This order reviews DTE Electric's spending under its electric investment recovery mechanism for the 13 months ending December 31, 2024, comparing what the company planned to spend on distribution projects with what it actually spent. The Commission approved the reconciliation and rejected a request by the Attorney General and other intervenors to disallow $13.113 million tied to certain recloser installations. DTE Electric collected $120,000 more than it spent, and that amount will be recorded as a regulatory liability and returned to customers through a future general rate case rather than as an immediate bill change. The order does not set new retail rates, so there is no immediate change to a residential monthly bill.
Every figure is quoted from the order it came from — hover a number to see the exact sentence and page. Figures without a quote in the source are not shown at all. Cases marked checked have had their figures verified against the order PDF by a person; the rest are machine-read and not yet reviewed.
Large loads in this territory
6 live data center projects name DTE Electric as their serving utility
Together they have disclosed 2.68 GW of demand. 1.38 GW of that sits under a contract the Commission has already approved. A further 3 have been withdrawn or refused. They are listed below for the record and excluded from that total.
- Stargate MichiganSaline Township · 1,383 MWUnder construction
- Project CannoliVan Buren Township · 1,000 MWApproved
- Metrobloks SouthfieldSouthfield · 100 MWApproved
- Project FlexLyon TownshipApplication submitted
- University of Michigan / Los Alamos research facilityYpsilanti Township · 100 MWPre-application
- Raeden Gibraltar siteGibraltar · 100 MWPaused or under moratorium
- Prologis Washington Township siteWashington Township · 800 MWWithdrawn or rejected
- Thor Equities Augusta Township siteAugusta Township · 100 MWWithdrawn or rejected
- Project IronwoodDundee and Milan TownshipsWithdrawn or rejected
The full Michigan tracker, with what regulators have approved →
Large load watch
Who pays for the data centers
A single hyperscale data center can ask for more power than a small city. The question in front of the Commission is not whether they get it — it is what they have to commit to in order to get it, and who absorbs the cost of the poles, wires, and generation built for them if the project shrinks or never arrives.
In U-22061, DTE Electric asked to rewrite its Rate D11 and add a provision for customers taking more than 100 MW: a minimum monthly bill regardless of how much power is actually used, administrative fees, a fee for walking away, and collateral up front. Those terms are the difference between a data center carrying its own risk and residential customers carrying it.
DTE Electric has asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to change its Rate D11 and add a new provision for very large electricity users, such as customers needing more than 100 MW, including a minimum monthly billing amount, administrative fees, a termination fee, and collateral requirements. The Commission has not decided the case; a prehearing is set for April 28, 2026 by video/teleconference. Customers can attend that hearing, file a written comment referencing Case No. U-22061, or file a petition to intervene by April 21, 2026.
The scheduled dates in this case have passed — the last was May 5, 2026. The case remains open, and an order can issue at any time. This is the one worth having emailed to you.