LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging Michigan residents to file public comments with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), calling for public hearings over DTE’s plans to service an anticipated 1.4-gigawatt data center in Saline. DTE Electric has filed an ex parte request for approval of two special contracts to provide electric service to the data center and specifically requests their application be approved with no formal hearings or any of the traditional oversight in place that secure the interests of ratepayers and the public. It is anticipated that DTE’s costs to build the infrastructure to support this data center will number in the hundreds of millions of dollars. 

In response, the Department of Attorney General filed a notice of intervention to request public hearings so that residents and other consumer protection organizations can weigh in. Public comment in case U-21990 can be filed on the MPSC website, at least until its next meeting on December 5th. Unless the MPSC grants the Attorney General’s request for formal hearings, this may be the only avenue for public input on the massive, newly proposed projects that could shape Michigan’s energy landscape for decades. 

“The Commission needs to hear from the people of Michigan that we don’t want corners cut and shortcuts taken when it comes to such a monumental moment as our state enters the data center era and economy,” said Nessel. “How we handle these first massive data centers could impact everything from the electric bill in your mailbox, to our clean energy generation future, and widespread water and land use throughout both peninsulas. Before long, corporate data centers may be the largest energy consumers in our state, and we must thoroughly, and publicly, review these first contracts with an eye on protecting Michigan ratepayers and our shared resources.” 

A formal public hearing with discovery and filed testimony will allow parties, such as the Attorney General, the opportunity to verify protections and cost reductions to customers proposed by the utility corporation and provide the Commission with a full evidentiary record to decide whether the special contract is prudent and reasonable. An ex parte request requires no public hearing, and no party is allowed to conduct discovery and file testimony for the Commission to review before deciding whether to approve the special contract.  

“The Public Service Commission is under extraordinary and unprecedented political and industry pressure to close their eyes, plug their nose, and fast-track these special contracts that have the potential to shape state energy policy for decades to come,” continued Nessel. “Just last week, a bipartisan group of state legislators with no ties to Saline penned open letters supporting this fast-track, no-review plan to advance DTE’s agenda. DTE, of course, stands to gain untold millions in profit selling energy to these industrial-scale plants and it remains no mystery why they want such an expedited, short-sighted review of their plans – which remain murky and fail to show how DTE intends to live up to their lofty promises.” 

The Michigan Public Service Commission is comprised of three members, each appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The Commission has routinely approved massive 9-figure annual rate hikes for each of the state’s major utility companies, at their request, multiple times a year. Since taking office, Attorney General Nessel has helped save Michigan consumers more than $4 billion by intervening in utility cases before the MPSC. Public comment in case U-21990 can be filed on the MPSC website. The MPSC is next scheduled to hold a regular meeting on December 5th and may take up this application from DTE at that public meeting. 

“Never before has the Public Service Commission been tasked with exercising their regulatory function under such immense pressure from so many powerful voices and it is my belief that the Commission must hear from the Michigan public that we won’t leave our energy policy and data center future to be privately negotiated only by the companies standing to profit most,” Nessel concluded. “Please—reach out to the Commission today and demand they conduct fair oversight and regulation over these new contracts, rather than rubber-stamp DTE’s handcrafted proposals for how best to profit off our energy future.”