Michigan AG asks regulators to reopen DTE Energy's 1-gigawatt Google deal, with $44.2 billion riding on it

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has asked state regulators to reopen the contracts behind Google's 1-gigawatt data center in Van Buren Township, and her office puts the choice bluntly: adopt stronger customer protections, or reject the deal outright ¹²³. The November 2 petition in case U-22058↗ challenges the Michigan Public Service Commission's October 1 approval for the 282-acre campus the township calls Project Cannoli, the deal that set the state's hyperscale template↗ ¹²³.

The $1.7 billion benefit is the target

The filing goes after the math beneath the guardrails. DTE▼−0.64% — DTE, down 0.64 percent today told the commission the campus leaves its other customers $1.7 billion better off over 20 years; the petition calls that analysis one that "has not been adequately supported," and notes it omitted transmission costs DTE owes ITC Holdings, the Novi-based grid company ¹. Nessel's office also wants the cap on Google's▼−1.54% — Google, down 1.54 percent today collateral removed, and says the order itself concedes other customers will subsidize the campus from 2035 through 2038↗ ².

Protections built for a 20-year bet

The approved terms run long by design: 20 years instead of the typical five, minimum billing at 80% of contracted capacity even if Google uses less, and an exit payment covering at least 15 years of minimum charges ¹. "Google will pay its own way, covering the full cost of powering its data center," DTE spokesman Ryan Lowry said ¹. The commission found the 80% floor sufficient and kept the right to reopen the case if the promised benefits fail to appear ⁴.

$44.2 billion of spending rides on it

DTE priced the load in on November 6: a $44.2 billion utility investment plan for 2027-2031↗, up from $34.5 billion, with Chief Financial Officer David Ruud attributing the near-$10 billion increase primarily to data-center load ⁵⁶. The plan assumes about $1 billion of new equity a year through 2031, on top of the $3 billion DTE Vantage sale↗ closing in 2027 ⁵⁷. Capex has outrun operating cash flow for 12 straight quarters ⁸, and the shares marked a fresh 52-week low on November 12 ⁹.

A weaker floor shifts the cost back to customers

Roughly 2.3 million southeast Michigan customers hold one side of the cost-shift question; the shareholders funding that equity plan hold the other ⁴⁵. If the commission trims the 80% floor or the exit cover, the protections weaken before the $474 million electric rate case DTE filed in April↗ is decided ⁶. A denial sends Nessel to the Michigan Court of Appeals, where her challenge to the Oracle▼−2.86% — Oracle, down 2.86 percent today data center deal already sits ⁴. The contract is signed; the state is now litigating whether the math behind it is real.