Sweltering summer leaves metro Detroiters frustrated with costly electric bills

A lot of people reached out to us on Facebook asking about their recent DTE bills that has a lot of people fuming, including one woman I spoke with when her July bill was over $600.

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"This was May's bill, $254, not bad," said April Umbenhower in Westland. "This bill, we just paid it on June 3rd, and that went up to $481."

From Berkley to Westland, those DTE bills are coming, and it's leaving some questioning the cost.

"I can't say on camera the words," Umbenhower said. "But yea you can imagine what came out of our mouth when we saw the bill."

April's bill was a whopping $652 and some change. It's half of her fixed income per month. She lives with her husband, her father, her mother and her daughter, and now when it comes to the bills, everyone is pitching in.

"We are helping each other because none of us could survive on our own with these high bills from DTE," Umbenhower said.

And in Berkley, there's Steven Goodman, who just got his mail.

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"I have noticed how much it has gone up," Goodman said of his DTE bill. "I am saying 'My God what are you doing with all this money? What are you doing with it?'"

This summer, DTE did implement a rate hike during peak hours of electrical usage. From June until September, customers will pay about five cents more per kilowatt hour from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m.

DTE says it's move is aimed at reducing strain on the electrical grid. When it comes to the sticker shock people are seeing, when they open their bills, however, DTE says the intense heat is mostly to blame. Those scorching temperatures put a lot more strain on air conditioners and fans.

DTE provided us with the following statement:

"When the weather gets hot and humid, customer appliances, fans and air conditioning units work overtime to keep them cool, which means they use more energy. This is especially true during extreme heat waves, like most of Southeast Michigan experienced in June. If customers used more energy last month, it will likely result in them seeing higher energy bills in July – potentially up to 10% or more, depending on how much energy was used to stay comfortable. We know how important it is for customers take control of their energy budget, so DTE has tips and free energy tools to manage energy use and bills for their household’s budget this summer at dteenergy.com/summer "

April says she understands the high demand for energy during the summer time, while AC units and other appliances work overtime. But all she has is a window unit, and central air. She's keeping her house at 74 degrees but had to bump it up to 77 in order to try and save.

"You gotta pick and choose," April said. "You gotta pay your rent, pay your bills, your water bill, yea."