DTE Gets $30.5M Rate Increase: What It Means For Detroit Area Bills

METRO DETROIT — Expect your electric bill to go up after officials approved a $30.5 million rate increase for DTE Electric on Friday.

The Michigan Public Service Commission approved the hike, which was significantly lower than the $388 million DTE originally asked for in January. The hike is set to take effect on Nov. 25.

The rate increase means that a typical residential customer in the Detroit area who uses 500 kilowatt hours of electricity per month will see their monthly bills go up 71 cents, or 0.78 percent.

The utility said the hike is necessary "to recover increased investments in its generation and distribution systems to improve safe and reliable electric service to its 2.3 million customers in southeast Michigan."

The largest amount of the reduction in the approved rate came from disputed projections used in the utility’s sales forecast based on changing patterns of residential electricity as Michigan moved beyond early restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commission determined that sales surged in 2020 and increased again in 2021, even as many Michiganders returned to working from their places of employment and resumed pre-COVID activities, despite the utility's previous projections that electric use among its residential customers was declining.

DTE Electric’s most recent previous rate increase was in May 2020, when the MPSC approved a $188 million increase after the utility had requested approval for a $351 increase.

The commission did order an audit for the utility in how it handles power outages, amid concerns about a lack of progress in reducing power outages and ensuring the public doesn’t come into contact with downed power lines.