Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel successfully argued before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to disallow DTE Electric’s attempted cost recovery of $33,774,728, per an order issued last week.
The decision was part of the MPSC’s annual review of cost recovery cases, separate from rate increase requests.
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Regulated utilities, like DTE, file these cases to recover purchasing power costs and meet grid demand.
However, these attempts often include costs that benefit shareholders or result from poor management practices.
In this instance, the MPSC found that DTE improperly tried to charge customers over $30 million for costs not justified as necessary or beneficial, primarily due to mismanagement of power plant outages. The order was issued on Feb. 27.
On the same day, the MPSC also disallowed $7,537,566 in unsupported costs requested by DTM Michigan Lateral Company, a pipeline operator primarily serving DTE Gas.
The Attorney General’s intervention thoroughly examined these issues, preventing these costs from being passed on to DTE Gas customers.
Together, the two orders result in a total savings of $41,312,294 for Michigan ratepayers.
DTE serves 1.3 million natural gas customers statewide and provides electricity to about 2.3 million customers in Southeast Michigan.
Since taking office, Nessel has helped save Michigan ratepayers nearly $3.7 billion.
