A dozen community organizers, residents, and council members gathered outside of 1 Energy Plaza to demand that the Michigan Public Service Commission reject DTE Energy’s latest proposed rate hike, and to host a public hearing on the rate case in Detroit.
DTE submitted a request for a $456.4 million increase in revenue in March, just months after the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a $368 million rate hike, which cost the average customer $100 or more per year. That hike is scheduled to take effect January 2025. .
Attorney General Dana Nessel released a statement Wednesday arguing that DTE should receive a $139.5 million annual increase, lowering the residential ratepayer increase to around 2.5% from 10%. Nessel has intervened in the case, as she has in previous cases.
An organizer for We The People Michigan, Kamau Clark, stressed the avenues to getting the rate hike denied are few. He called for a public hearing before the Michigan Public Service Commission.
“Community members have been hit by peak hours. They’ve been hit by last year’s rate increase, and they’re dreading the onset of another one,” Clark said.
DTE moved to a peak hours rate structure in March, designed to incentivize customers to reduce electricity use during high-demand hours. Advocates say this rate structure presents a hardship for some customers who need to use electricity during peak hours because of job schedules or medical devices.
DTE rate hikes come more often
In 2022, We The People Michigan was part of a broader coalition that successfully blocked 90% of DTE’s 8.8% rate increase request. Over 300 people attended the public hearing held in Detroit.
Now, Clark sees each year as an opportunity to prevent the impacts on residents and to take a public stance on rate increases. DTE has increased the frequency of its rate hike requests from about every three years a decade ago to nearly every year for the past several years,
Michigan Public Service Commission spokesperson Matt Helms declined to comment, noting commissioners are unable to discuss active rate cases before the commission. DTE referred Planet Detroit to a March press release outlining the company’s rationale for filing the rate increase.
“DTE is building a more reliable grid of the future by upgrading existing infrastructure with equipment like stronger poles and fiberglass crossarms, which can better withstand extreme weather; rebuilding significant portions of the grid, and continuing to trim trees around equipment and power lines.”
Mara Matta, organizer with We The People Michigan, said as a daughter of Lebanese-American immigrants who “fled a country of corrupt government and frequent power outages for a better life” did not expect to face similar struggles in the U.S.
“From June 19 to the 21st in the middle of a heat wave, I was without power. I had no food, no cell phone and no air conditioning,” Matta said. “Down the block, there were downed power lines that were not addressed for over a week.”
Detroit Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero also attended the rally. She urged Detroiters to continue telling their stories about the impact of DTE rate hikes, shutoffs and poor reliability.
“It’s personal for me. I’m a [Detroit] resident who grew up working class, working poor,” Santiago-Romero said. “And even though I’m a council member now, I did not magically become wealthy. I still have student debt and a new mortgage that’s incredibly expensive.”