December 18, 2025
LANSING, MI — The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today granted ex parte approval of DTE Energy’s request to fast-track special contracts to provide electricity to a proposed data center in Saline Township – but with conditions. The data center, backed by OpenAI and Oracle, will require 1.4 gigawatts of power from the electric utility.
The Commission opted to fast-track approval rather than move forward with a contested case, which would have allowed for additional public input and a full and more transparent review of potential impacts on electricity rates, reliability, and Michigan’s clean energy goals. While the order includes conditions intended to provide consumer protection and ratepayer benefits – including claims that DTE will bear all risk for unrecovered costs – the Commission’s assertion that it can contain all costs and charge them to specific customers is uncertain at best.
The decision is concerning to the Ecology Center, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Vote Solar – collectively known as the Clean Energy Organizations (CEOs) – as it bypasses public scrutiny and substitutes MPSC Staff’s evaluation of an unredacted file for meaningful public review, and raises questions about whether safeguards are sufficient to protect ratepayers, communities, and Michigan’s environmental commitments.
Katie Duckworth, Senior Associate Attorney with ELPC, said: “Approving this project without a contested case missed a critical opportunity to examine how such a massive new load impacts DTE’s generation portfolio and Michigan’s renewable energy goals. The proposed battery storage system could be beneficial, but it’s critical to understand what will charge those batteries – clean energy or fossil fuels. Fast-tracking approval only defers consideration of the renewable energy implications until next year’s integrated resource planning, which will only make these issues more difficult to thoughtfully address.”
Lee Shaver, Senior Energy Analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said: “History will show that the Commission has made the wrong call here—and as fast as AI technology is moving, it won’t take long. By approving this application, the Commission failed to adequately scrutinize DTE’s claims that this data center would not harm affordability, reliability, or Michigan’s clean energy goals. While the commissioners claim that the conditions they applied to their approval will address those risks, the decision gets the order wrong: the time to ensure that Michiganders are protected is before building a city-size data center, not after.”
Will Kenworthy, Senior Regulatory Director – Midwest for Vote Solar, said: “The Commission’s order recognizes the need to protect customers from the systemwide impacts of this unprecedented load growth, but it falls short of assuring that cost won’t be shifted onto other customers. Instead, it defers the most consequential issues to future integrated resource planning and rate proceedings—where meaningful consumer protections must ultimately be secured. The Commission now has the responsibility to ensure any adverse impacts identified in resource, transmission anddistribution planning are directly translated into rate design and cost allocation decisions in rate cases—so the costs of serving data center load don’t end up on the backs of households.”
Alexis Blizman, Policy Director at the Ecology Center, said: “There are so many unanswered questions regarding this project which could have huge impacts on energy affordability and reliability. Despite the MPSC’s many assurances of ratepayer protection, the public deserves transparency, and the Commission chose to leave them in the dark.”