DTE Energy executives promised a more aggressive clean energy transition during their third-quarter earnings call Thursday.
Pointing to the Inflation Reduction Act, the utility’s leadership told financial analysts to expect a speedier resource changeover when it files a new integrated resource plan with the Michigan Public Service Commission in early November. CEO Jerry Norcia said the plan will detail how DTE plans to accelerate its decarbonization efforts.
DTE earned $311 million ($1.60/share) for the quarter, $21 million higher in a year-over-year comparison because of deferred tax amortization and lower operations and maintenance expenses.
Norcia said “climate change remains our generation’s defining public policy issue.” He said the utility is committed to investing in clean energy and grid modernization to ensure reliability against extreme weather and to accommodate new load from electric vehicles.
“We are focusing on updating and improving our aging infrastructure for this additional demand while continuing to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy,” Norcia said. “Two important factors affecting our grid are climate change and emerging electrification technologies. We need to build the grid of the future to ensure we can continue to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy.”
Norcia promised a “shift towards renewables and natural gas and away from coal generation.”
CFO Dave Ruud said the IRA will help accelerate DTE’s clean energy transition and keep customer costs in check. Norcia said the legislation’s passage will have “a very positive impact” on the company’s IRP, lower the cost of renewable investments and improve the affordability of carbon-capture and storage technologies.
“We have now the opportunity to invest greater amounts in our renewables build-out, so very positive impact overall,” Norcia said.
He also said DTE’s voluntary renewables program, MIGreenPower, continues to show “substantial growth” with a new 400-MW customer joining this week, bringing the program’s subscription to 2.1 GW.
DTE Energy has a goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Last month, the Ann Arbor City Council voted 10-1 to fund a $500,000 feasibility study on breaking away from DTE Energy. City officials have said their existing clean energy plans are an obstacle to meeting the city’s goal to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2030.
Activist group Ann Arbor for Public Power said DTE “fails to provide reliable electricity, charges residents more than the national average and gets more than 50% of its power from coal.”
The earnings call came as DTE and Consumers Energy face an audit from the Michigan PSC over compliance with outage and safety regulations. Last summer, storms left Michigan ratepayers on extended outages, leading to inquiries from state regulators. (See Mich. PSC Issues Emergency Order Following Devastating Storms.)
Norcia said he thinks the audit will ultimately strengthen DTE’s relationship with the commission and better align their views on the utility’s investments. He said current discussions with PSC staff are “really collaborative.”
Norcia said DTE’s grid averages 99.9% availability and its best-in-class utility performance is about 99.97%. He said all of DTE’s capital investment plans are “pointed at how do we get to that 99.97% availability for our grid.”
“So, I feel that this process with the Commission will create stronger alignment,” Norcia said, adding that DTE has systems that must be “replaced, modernized and automated.”
