A Check on Gas Utility Spending in Michigan: Takeaways from the DTE Gas Rate Case Decision

Alice Napoleon October 13, 2026
Tags: gasenergy efficiencyutilitiesutility regulationtestimony

The Michigan Public Service Commission (Commission or PSC) recently issued its order in DTE Gas Company's general rate case (Case No. U-21973). The Commission rejected the assumptions behind several of the utility's largest spending requests, a move that could protect future ratepayers from unnecessarily high rates. Several of the Commission’s findings across key contested issues in the case mirrored the recommendations in the testimony of Synapse witness Alice Napoleon, filed by the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC). 

Key Takeaways

  • The Commission cut DTE’s forecasted new-customer attachment expenditures by over $20 million after agreeing with MEC and Synapse that DTE Gas's growth projections were overly optimistic and didn't match the company’s own history.
  • Synapse argued that DTE Gas's infrastructure surcharge program has ballooned without reasonable cause. The utility’s budget has nearly tripled since 2013, with overspending every year since 2016. Its overspending was not justified by a risk or cost-benefit standard. The Commission agreed, capping funding below what DTE Gas requested and putting new guardrails on the program going forward.
  • The Commission agreed with Synapse that DTE Gas does not justify its large capital investments with robust analysis, nor does DTE Gas evaluate alternatives before asking ratepayers to pay for them. The Commission put DTE on notice that future costs will need more evidentiary support.
  • The Commission found DTE's Gas Delivery Plan, a 10-year strategic distribution system investment plan built using outdated assumptions, to be deficient and ordered an overhaul before the next rate case. The Commission stated that the company's system planning did not account for the energy transition and declining gas demand.

What This Means Going Forward

DTE Gas's next Gas Delivery Plan and next rate case now face a new set of expectations including, but not limited to, the following: 

  • Spending must be justified with current and reliable evidence, not outdated assumptions carried forward from case to case.
  • The company must justify future spending in terms of risk reduction and evaluate non-pipeline alternatives more seriously, both recommendations made by Synapse.
  • DTE Gas must hold a workshop with Commission Staff and other stakeholders on incorporating energy-transition scenarios into future Gas Delivery Plans (using 10-year sales forecasts instead of 5-year forecasts). The Commission warned that a deficient plan "may call into question whether the Commission can approve certain costs in the future."

Broadly speaking, the Commission’s order reflected many of the findings from Synapse and MEC that DTE Gas has so far failed to prudently plan ahead for the upcoming energy transition. In the words of MEC, “DTE has not seriously considered the uncertainty of future gas demand and the potential impacts on its system in a future with increasing electrification.” And now the Commission has put DTE Gas on notice for future rate cases.

For detailed findings and recommendations, see Synapse testimony here.