Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed a reply to DTE’s response regarding her intervention in the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) case on DTE’s application for two special contracts. These contracts would provide electricity to a 1.4-gigawatt data center planned for Saline Township.
Nessel’s notice of intervention called on the MPSC to treat DTE’s request as a contested case and conduct a full proceeding. She cited concerns about unclear project details and potential financial risks for utility ratepayers across DTE’s service area. Despite DTE’s response, Nessel maintains that several issues remain unresolved, including matters previously raised by the MPSC in similar cases.
“DTE continues to push for a rubber-stamp approval of a secret deal, but time and again, my office has contested their filings – and time after time, the utility has shown it is not a trustworthy partner, routinely filling cases with unjustified costs,” Nessel said. “We must be able to scrutinize DTE’s ability to sell this massive amount of electricity without negatively impacting residents. No matter how DTE tries to explain it away, this case – involving hundreds of millions of dollars in costs just to connect the data center to DTE’s power grid – should be treated as contested like any other, and their customers have made it overwhelmingly clear that they too want full public hearings.”
The reply highlights several shortcomings in DTE’s ex parte request. According to Nessel, DTE did not detail all resources needed for powering the data center or explain how payment for those resources would be managed, despite an MPSC requirement for such disclosures in large customer cases. The company also failed to include terms mandated by the Commission in recent decisions involving other utilities and did not clarify how termination fee provisions would apply or adequately explain impacts on ratepayers. The filing also criticized what it described as unjustified redactions and rushed deadlines.
An ex parte process prevents parties such as the Attorney General from conducting discovery or submitting testimony before approval is granted. A formal proceeding would allow all parties an opportunity to review protections proposed by DTE and present evidence for the Commission’s consideration.
The MPSC is scheduled to meet on December 5—the date by which DTE has requested contract approval.
Since taking office, Nessel states she has helped save Michigan consumers more than $4 billion through interventions in utility cases before the MPSC. Her call for a full proceeding in this instance reflects her stated commitment to affordable energy for consumers.