Data centers in Michigan

DTE Electric filed a new rate case in 2026 asking for a 474.3 million dollar increase, about 9.7 percent more from residential customers, for a period starting March 2027. DTE separately offered to pause future rate hike requests for two years if this case gets a constructive outcome and its Saline Township data center opens on time, an offer Attorney General Dana Nessel called a ransom note that ties ordinary ratepayer relief to data center approvals. The case is still pending with no decision yet.

Consumers Energy filed a new electric rate case on June 2, 2026, asking for a 456 million dollar revenue increase, about 9.8 percent more from residential customers, to cover a 12 month period ending April 2028. If approved as filed, a typical residential bill of about 155 dollars a month would rise by roughly 13 dollars. The case is still pending before the Michigan Public Service Commission with no decision date yet set.

Michigan exempts qualifying data center equipment from the state's 6 percent sales and use tax under two 2024 laws, Senate Bill 237 and House Bill 4906, which Governor Whitmer signed between December 30, 2024 and January 17, 2025. To qualify as an enterprise data center, a company must invest at least 250 million dollars and create at least 30 jobs paying 150 percent or more of the local median wage, and the exemption now runs through 2050, or 2065 for projects on brownfield or former power plant sites. This is a break on equipment sales tax, not an electric rate, but it is the main financial incentive drawing large data centers like the Stargate campus to Michigan.

Consumers Energy asked for a 436 million dollar rate increase plus a 24.3 million dollar surcharge, about 13 percent more overall from residential customers. The Michigan Public Service Commission approved a smaller 276.6 million dollar increase on March 27, 2026, effective May 1, 2026, which raises a typical residential bill using 500 kilowatt hours a month by about 6.46 dollars. The increase funds the utility's plan to bury power lines and strengthen poles against storms, not data center hookups.

DTE Electric asked regulators for a 574.1 million dollar annual revenue increase, which it said would raise a typical residential bill by about 11.1 percent. The Michigan Public Service Commission instead approved a smaller 242.4 million dollar increase on February 19, 2026, which raises a typical residential bill using 500 kilowatt hours a month by about 4.93 dollars, or 4.1 percent, starting March 5, 2026. The money mostly funds grid upgrades, tree trimming, and reliability work rather than any single data center.

DTE Electric asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to approve special power supply contracts for the Oracle backed Stargate data center under construction in Saline Township, which needs about 1.4 gigawatts of electricity. The commission approved the contracts on an expedited basis on December 18, 2025, requiring a 19 year minimum term, payment for at least 80 percent of reserved capacity every month, and a rule that DTE track and recover the data center's costs only from the data center itself. The Michigan Attorney General and environmental groups have since appealed the approval, arguing the review moved too fast and that residential customers are not fully protected.

Consumers Energy asked the Michigan Public Service Commission in February 2025 to create new tariff rules for customers with electric loads of 100 megawatts or more, which today mostly means data centers. The commission approved the amended tariff on November 6, 2025, requiring these customers to sign contracts of at least 15 years and pay for at least 80 percent of the power capacity they reserve every month, even in months they use less. Regulators said the terms are meant to keep the cost of new power lines and generation built for data centers off the bills of everyday Consumers Energy customers.