Overview:

- Environmental advocates urge Michigan regulators to reject DTE Energy's proposed $456 million rate hike after revelations of the utility ghostwriting supportive comments.
-The Michigan Public Service Commission labeled the act as "disappointing," and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is paying attention.
- The controversy has led to calls for legislation to prevent utilities from making political donations, which advocates argue undermine ratepayers' voices.

Environmental advocates are calling on Michigan regulators to deny DTE Energy’s proposed $456 million electricity rate increase after Planet Detroit reported the utility was ghostwriting comments in support of its rate hike.

Data in the PDF documents containing comments submitted by businesses to support the rate hike in late September showed that a DTE spokesperson had authored four of the documents, while several others showed textual similarities that suggested that a shared template had been used.

A DTE spokesperson told Planet Detroit that the company wrote the comments for its vendors at their request.

DTE’s actions have drawn scrutiny from the Michigan Public Service Commission, which called the comment writing  “disappointing,” and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office.

“The department is not currently investigating the submitted comments, though the matter has caught our attention as we continue our work to combat incessant and excessive rate hike requests for the State’s utility corporations,” Danny Wimmer, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office, told Planet Detroit in a statement.

Nessel previously said that DTE’s proposed 10% rate hike for residential customers should be reduced to 2.5% and submitted a brief in October, saying the utility shouldn’t be “rewarded for subpar performance by simply dumping more money into the machine.”

It’s unclear if DTE will face direct consequences for its actions in the rate case. MPSC spokesperson Matt Helms said the commission could not comment on a pending rate case. But he noted that, unlike official testimony, comments submitted in the rate case are not part of the official record.

Other states haven’t provided a clear roadmap for how regulators might deal with utilities engaged in deceptive practices, although DTE isn’t the only company to have ghostwritten comments. 

But advocates called for the MPSC to deny the rate hike following Planet Detroit’s ghostwriting revelations. They also argue that lawmakers should advance legislation to block utilities from making political donations, which they say undermines ratepayers’ voices.

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Could DTE ghostwriting controversy give energy justice groups a boost?

Em Perry, organizing director for the nonprofit Michigan United, doubts that any disciplinary actions or fines by the MPSC, beyond potentially rejecting the rate increase, would be significant enough to influence DTE’s future behavior.

She said the utility’s actions underscore the need for lawmakers to pass two bills, HB 5520 and HB 5521, to prevent monopoly utilities and companies seeking government contracts from making political donations, an issue supported by the Taking Back Our Power Coalition.

“Realistically, they’re not going to face any real consequences until our legislature passes the taking back our power legislation,” Perry said, arguing that utilities have previously used their influence with legislators to defeat accountability measures like more generous outage credits.

The coalition currently has support from 22 lawmakers, and Perry said meetings are planned with 10 more. She’s optimistic that the legislation could move in the lame duck period following the general election, based on growing awareness of the campaign and engagement from constituents,

But even if the legislation fails, Perry said the effort could set up a ballot proposal for the next election to block utilities and other companies seeking state contracts from making political contributions.

Advocate says denying the rate case would restore faith in the process

State Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City), who introduced the “taking back our power” legislation, said DTE’s ghostwriting should be investigated, arguing that the money the company is using to influence the rate case and lobby politicians could be better spent.

“In both cases, it’s money that could have gone into the grid,” Wegela said. “Or it’s money that could have been used to reduce the rates so that people have more affordable bills.”

Karlee Weinmann, research and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institutes, an industry watchdog group, said regulators in other states haven’t done much to disrupt ghostwriting or similar behavior by utilities. However, there are a few instances of utilities being fined or groups funded by the utilities facing backlash.

In 2019, the New Orleans City Council, which regulates utilities in the city, fined the utility Entergy $5 million for using paid actors to support its effort to build a new power plant within the city limits. That same year, a group funded by the Southern California Gas Company withdrew from a proceeding before the California Public Utilities Commission, which involved transitioning energy use in buildings from gas to electricity, after the utility’s backing was revealed.  

Weinmann said that regulators “have an interest in receiving candid testimony and comments that are not subject to manipulation by the regulated utility.” But she said any rules the MPSC might institute would only be as effective as their corresponding enforcement.

DTE declined to comment for this article. But company spokesperson Jill Wilmot previously responded to the evidence that it had ghostwritten comments by saying that businesses working with the company had requested a template for their comments in support of the rate hike.

“These stakeholders and their employees – like tree trimmers, linemen and restoration contractors – are significantly impacted by rate case outcomes,” Wilmot said.

Weinmann previously noted “an inherent and obvious power imbalance between these companies, which rely on DTE for cash flow, and DTE, which has the leeway to choose which firms it pays for work.”

The MPSC may not decide on the rate case until next year. Perry said she hopes the commission denies the rate increase, to protect ratepayers from additional costs but also to restore their faith in the regulatory process after the ghostwriting was disclosed.

“Having a win like this, ending this rate case, would really make a big difference to show people that their voice does matter,” she said.

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Brian Allnutt is a senior reporter and contributing editor at Planet Detroit. He covers the climate crisis, environmental justice, politics and open space.