SPOTLIGHT

DTE increased shutoffs in 2022; gets modest rate increase
A DTE billing statement. Photo credit: Nick Hagen

At the same time as it was seeking a rate increase from state regulators, DTE shut off utilities to customers at its fastest clip in years. 

DTE disconnected electric accounts 176,923 times from January through September of this year, more than in the first nine months of any year since at least 2013. DTE also sold customers’ debt to a private company, which forced thousands of Detroiters into default judgments and led to garnished wages.

The Michigan Public Service Commission spent the past 10 months listening to public comment and deliberating about whether to give DTE its requested 8.8% rate increase which would have generated $388 million in additional annual revenue. But in the end, the MPSC only granted the utility an 0.8% rate increase for a typical residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours of power a month. It will amount to just $30.5 million in added revenue. 

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