Nessel goes up against DTE's rate hike request

Attorney General Dana Nessel is looking to challenge DTE's rate increase request of $450 million.

The big picture: Nessel routinely attempts to intervene in utility rate hike requests to save customers money, per a news release from her office.

State of play: DTE's latest plea comes just four months after it was permitted to increase rates by another $368 million .

Between the lines: The accumulation of hundred-million-dollar rate increases is unprecedented and unsustainable for ratepayers, the office's preliminary analysis found.

What they're saying: "This latest rate hike request from DTE is, frankly, absurd," Nessel said in the release. "DTE is following their usual playbook, incessant and oppressive rate hike requests not grounded in reality, but rather based on the financial aspirations of their corporate shareholders."

The other side: DTE says the increase is necessary to improve the electrical grid and make it more reliable, per the Free Press . It would allow DTE to find power outage locations more quickly, lower the number of outages by 30% and slice the length of time for outages in half.

What's next: A pre-hearing is slated for April 26 in DTE's case.

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