Michigan regulators approve DTE Electric contracts for Google data center

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has approved special electricity contracts between DTE Electric Co. and Google LLC to power a new data center in Van Buren Township, Wayne County. The agreements include a primary supply agreement and a clean capacity accelerator agreement to provide new clean energy resources and storage. To protect existing customers from subsidizing the project, the MPSC mandated that Google bear the full costs of these resources. The 20-year contract includes a minimum billing demand of 80% and an early termination clause requiring payment for at least 15 years of minimum monthly charges to mitigate the risk of stranded infrastructure costs.

In a separate development regarding Michigan’s long-term energy strategy, DTE Energy has filed an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) covering the next 15 years. A coalition of advocacy groups, including Vote Solar, the Ecology Center, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, has announced plans to intervene in the proceeding. The organizations argue that DTE’s plan, which includes 2.2 GW of new natural gas generation, fails to sufficiently utilize cost-effective customer-side resources such as residential solar, virtual power plants, and community power networks to meet the rising electricity demand driven largely by data centers.