Groups Ask Court to Overturn Rushed Approval of DTE’s Oracle Data Center Contracts

Groups Ask Court to Overturn Rushed Approval of DTE's Oracle Data Center Contracts

Plans for a 1.4 gigawatt Oracle data center were approved by the PSC in 48 days without sufficient review and public participation.

Contacts

Kathryn McGrath, [email protected]

Megan Wittman, [email protected]

Today, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, Michigan Environmental Council, and NRDC filed their opening brief asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to overturn the Michigan Public Service Commission's (MPSC) ex parte approval of DTE's contracts for the proposed 1.4 gigawatt Oracle data center in Saline, Mich.

Last December, the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the contracts through a private, ex parte process despite thousands of public comments, a letter from more than 20 state lawmakers, and a formal request from Attorney General Dana Nessel calling on the Commission to deny DTE's request and require a full public evidentiary hearing. The Commission approved the contracts in just seven weeks, compared with roughly 10 months for most major cases before the PSC.

In the brief, the groups argue that the PSC unlawfully approved contracts committing DTE to more than $500 million in new substation and transmission infrastructure, much of it recoverable through utility rates, without a contested evidentiary hearing. The contracts obligate DTE to invest more to serve this single customer than it has invested to serve any other customer in its history, to serve new electric demand on a scale no Michigan utility has ever served before. The groups also argue that the PSC relied on confidential contracts and financial analyses that were never entered into the record or tested by the parties, preventing meaningful public and judicial review.

The groups are represented in the case by Troposphere Legal and Earthjustice.

"The secretive and rushed approval of DTE's deal for an Oracle AI data center robbed the people of Michigan of their right to evaluate its details and impacts through a contested hearing process, even as it exposed customers to nearly half a billion dollars in up-front costs. This appeal is an important part of the fight to ensure that any such deals are reviewed in transparent, public processes, and to protect ratepayers from the unprecedented costs of these AI data centers. Anything less is a violation of the people's rights under Michigan law," said Jacob Elkin, Earthjustice attorney.

"A deal that could commit DTE to roughly half a billion dollars in new infrastructure and reshape Michigan's electric system around a single private customer with barely investment grade backing should have faced the highest possible level of public scrutiny. Instead, the Commission approved it behind an extraordinary wall of redactions, without putting the key evidence into the record or allowing it to be tested in a full hearing. This appeal asks the Court to stop that process from becoming Michigan's template for data-center development and to restore the transparency and accountability that decisions of this scale demand," said Bryan Smigielski, Sierra Club Campaign Organizer.

"To serve the Oracle data center in Saline, DTE will have to invest billions of dollars upfront and long-term; dollars that will be recovered from all of DTE's ratepayers. In approving the special contract via an expedited, closed door process, the Commission not only did a disservice to Michigan ratepayers, but also didn't follow the letter of Michigan's law. At a time when Michiganders are calling out for a more affordable energy system, our decision makers should be putting deals of this scale under the microscope. Instead the Commission relied on flimsy promises from DTE that the deal will result in a nebulous 'affordability benefit' to justify skirting the public scrutiny our law requires to protect ratepayers from unfair cost increases," said Charlotte Jameson, Michigan Environmental Council Chief Policy Officer.

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