DTE Energy's 1-gigawatt Google deal set Michigan's data-center template; more deals by year-end
Michigan's regulator wrote the terms for hyperscale power deals in the Google case, and DTE says more agreements come by year's end. The template is now an earnings story for the utility's stock.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Michigan just sold its template. On October 2 the Michigan Public Service Commission voted unanimously to give conditional approval to DTE Energy's contracts to power Google's 1-gigawatt "Project Cannoli" data center in Van Buren Township, the state's first hyperscale deal settled in a contested case 1. One day short of that vote's five-day anniversary, DTE told the market it plans to announce new data-center agreements by the end of the year 3. Every term the regulator just wrote is now the price list for the next round.
The terms the next deals must match
The primary supply agreement runs 20 years, with minimum monthly billing at 80% of contract capacity and a termination payment protecting at least 15 years of minimum charges 1. Regulators added conditions on top: the commission order commits Google to fund up to 1,600 MW of renewable generation and 480 MW of battery storage, and mlive reports the exit payment could reach $2.5 billion 12. Commission chair Dan Scripps put it plainly: "Google can pay its own energy bills" 2. The campus begins service in December 2027 and hits maximum load by December 2028 1.
The two camps, and the veto
Attorney General Dana Nessel pushed for a 90% minimum billing demand and termination math at 100% of remaining contract months, and her office called the cost-shift risks "unprecedented" 12. She lost, on paper. The Environmental Law & Policy Center said the commission held DTE accountable but failed to make Google fund distributed grid solutions 1. Off the docket, the money was settled anyway: Wayne County's commission overrode Executive Warren Evans' veto of a tax exemption saving Google more than $125 million, and Van Buren's planning commission can approve the final site plan as soon as October 14 12.
What the contract is worth to the stock
For DTE shareholders, the order converts consumer-protection language into an earnings-quality argument. CEO Joi Harris told analysts the Google project and other data-center opportunities provide upside to the plan, and analysts peg the deal's capex pull at roughly $5 billion through 2032 4. DTE already carries 2.4 GW of signed hyperscale deals, with five to six GW more in the pipeline, against a stock near its 52-week low 4. The question for the year-end announcements is arithmetic: the template is de-risked growth, the only open variable is how many gigawatts sign it.
DTE's signed data-center load, and the pipeline behind the year-end announcements
- Estimate
Data
| Value | Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Oracle/OpenAI, Saline Township | 1.4 | — |
| Google, Van Buren Township | 1 | — |
| DTE pipeline, additional deals (estimate) | 5.5 | 5–6 |
The contrast that should worry everyone else
December's Oracle and OpenAI deal, a 1.4-GW campus in Saline Township, was waved through ex parte, without testimony or cross-examination 12. The Google case took six months of contested process to land on weaker minimums than the Attorney General wanted. The pattern points one way: each new deal inherits a precedent, and each approval makes the next scrutiny shorter. Investors reading DTE's 15-year payment protection should read the regulator's calendar too.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
