AG Nessel on MPSC Not Issuing Decision on DTE’s Data Center Application

LANSING – Today, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) held its December 5 meeting without issuing a decision on DTE’s ex parte application for approval of two special contracts to service a 1.4-gigawatt data center in Saline Township. DTE has repeatedly claimed that the special contracts required approval by December 5. However, in its response to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s notice of intervention, the utility now acknowledges that the publicly-redacted contract allows the deadline to be extended to December 19. Attorney General Nessel issued the following statement in response:  

“DTE has spent weeks insisting that December 5 was a do-or-die deadline for the MPSC to approve its secret deal to service a data center that would use as much power as a million households only to come clean that their hidden contract allows for this so-called deadline to be extended to December 19. This manufactured timeline was all a pressure tactic to rush through a heavily redacted contract that – for some reason – DTE does not want my office or the public to see. 

“Residents have made clear their opposition to these hidden agreements, and their concerns deserve to be fully heard – not brushed aside. This ‘new’ deadline only became public after my office filed a notice to intervene and is precisely why we need a contested case and full public proceedings. We can’t just take DTE’s word that Michigan ratepayers won’t be left footing the bill for this data center.  

“The next MPSC meeting will mark 48 days since DTE filed for an ex parte application. That’s nearly 7 weeks of wasted time that could have been used evaluating these contracts, had they been willing to undergo the normal process. The MPSC should not give in to this pressure campaign and should insist on holding full public hearings that are transparent, thorough, and centered on the interests of Michigan residents – as they are expected to do.”

The MPSC’s next regularly scheduled meeting is on December 18.