Michigan Regulators Reject Attorney General's Challenge to DTE Data Center Power Contracts

The Michigan Public Service Commission voted 3-0 to deny the state attorney general's petition to review confidential energy contracts for a massive Oracle data center project, clearing the way for the facility to receive power without a contested case.

The decision on March 27 leaves in place agreements between DTE Electric and developers that were approved in December after objections from Attorney General Dana Nessel's office, environmental groups and local residents.

DTE Electric will provide an initial 1.4 gigawatts of energy for the Saline Township campus being developed by Green Chile Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of Oracle. The agreement also includes 332 megawatts of battery storage across three projects that will serve the data center while allowing DTE to improve grid reliability.

For reference, 1.4 gigawatts of energy could power over a million homes.

Attorney General Nessel said the MPSC was performing a "grave disservice to the state of Michigan and the utility customers of this state, to the only apparent benefit of the utility corporations and their new billion-dollar AI customers."

Nessel's office argued the MPSC should have opened a contested case where DTE would have to prove residential rates would not be affected by the data center's operations. The attorney general's office filed a petition for rehearing in January, which commissioners denied during their March 27 meeting.

The order denying the petition states the groups lacked standing to intervene in the case.

MPSC Commissioner Karen Nessel was among those who voted to deny the petition, with all three commissioners supporting the decision. The commissioners said the motion from the state's top lawyer lacked sufficient grounds to reopen a hearing after the commission had previously approved the contracts.

The data center agreement was granted ex parte approval, meaning the contracts did not have to go through a contested case where intervening groups could file expert witness testimony and seek evidence through discovery over the course of a year.

DTE officials argue the agreement states developers must foot the bill for all energy costs. Additionally, DTE officials have claimed powering the planned data center could lead to lower rates because of excess energy storage being added to the company's portfolio.

The MPSC approved battery storage contracts for six DTE projects totaling 1,332 megawatts on March 27. Three of the projects serve the Saline Township campus while the other three support DTE's wider grid needs:

• 450 MW Big Mitten Energy Center in Huron County under a 20-year tolling agreement
• 350 MW Monroe I Energy Center in Monroe County under a self-build contract
• 200 MW Fermi Energy Center under a self-build contract

The remaining three contracts serve the data center:

• 100 MW Cold Creek Energy Center
• 132 MW Fish Creek Energy Center
• 100 MW Pine River Energy Center

Together, the three data center projects total 332 megawatts of battery storage capacity. The commission previously approved a total of 1,383 megawatts of company-owned energy storage facilities for the data center project in December, though only 332 megawatts were approved in this latest round.

The approved contracts move DTE Electric forward in meeting terms of the utility's most recent integrated resource plan, which called for adding 15,000 megawatts of solar and wind energy generation in Michigan.

Environmental groups and local residents had raised concerns about the impact to residential electric rates, the environmental impact of the facility, and whether the data center would serve Michigan's broader economic interests.

The MPSC approved DTE Electric's application for the data center on December 18, 2025, imposing mandatory safeguards to prevent residential and other customers from subsidizing the data center's costs.

The decision comes amid growing national debate about how to regulate data centers that consume massive amounts of power while charging their developers for the energy.

Sources:

• https://www.michigan.gov/mpsc/commission/news-releases/2026/03/27/mpsc-goes-big-on-batteries
• https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2026/03/27/ag-efforts-to-review-dte-data-center-contracts-rejected-again-at-mpsc
• https://eu.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/03/28/mpsc-dte-agreement-data-center-saline-township/89349996007/
• https://www.ess-news.com/2026/04/01/michigan-approves-1-3-gw-bess-portfolio-including-contested-oracle-data-center-assets/