DTE Electric Company Power Supply Reconciliation Docket for 2020

Michigan Environmental Council
Project Completed November 2021

Synapse provided expert testimony and analysis to support the Michigan Environmental Council before the Michigan Public Service Commission in Detroit Edison’s (DTE) power supply cost recovery plan reconciliation docket for 2020. Synapse’s testimony and analysis focused on assessing the economic performance of DTE’s Tier 1 (Belle River 1 and 2, and Monroe Units 1, 2, 3, and 4) and Tier 2 (River Rouge Unit 3; St. Clair Units 2, 3, 6, and 7; and Trenton Channel Unit 9) coal units and evaluating the extent to which DTE operated its coal units economically in 2020.

We found that all the Company’s Tier 2 coal units except Trenton Channel Unit 9 incurred net operational, in 2020, and these losses totaled $5.5 million based on just fuel costs. We also found that the Company’s internal unit-commitment process was biased in favor of keeping its coal units online, and that the Company did not properly use its own unit commitment process on more than a dozen occasions in 2020. We recommended disallowances based on the Company’s uneconomic decision-making at its coal plants. Testimony was filed in November 2021.