DTE Energy touted its investment of more than $3.8 billion in Michigan’s electric and gas infrastructure last year for investors and analysts during its fourth-quarter earnings call Feb. 8.
The company said it put $3.1 billion into improving electric reliability and increasing clean energy, with the rest going into upgrading its gas distribution lines. The electric work included trimming more than 5,200 miles of trees, installing more than 200 automated reclosers and replacing more than 3,500 utility poles. That led to 33% less outages in the second half of the year, the company said.
DTE also “replaced more than 200 miles of cast iron pipes with more durable materials” and “moved more than 22,000 natural gas meters to the outside of homes and businesses” to improve safety, it said.
“By making strategic investments in our infrastructure at levels significantly higher than our earnings, we accelerated our long-term plans for transforming our electric generation and distribution,” CEO Jerry Norcia said in a press release. “We will continue to increase our infrastructure investments in each of the next five years to keep getting better, faster.”
Operating earnings for the year were down by just 1%, at $1.184 billion ($5.73/share). A loss of $170 million on the year in the company’s electric business was offset by profits in DTE Vantage — its direct-to-business energy solutions subsidiary that owns renewable natural gas and carbon-capture facilities — and in its energy trading subsidiary. It reported operating earnings of $406 million ($1.97/share) for the fourth quarter, a nearly 53% increase over the same period in 2022.
The loss in electric earnings was mostly attributed to weather: a warmer winter, a cooler summer and higher storm-related expenses.
“2023 was a challenging year for DTE as we faced significant headwinds from an unprecedented combination of weather and storm activity,” Norcia said during the earnings call. “The fact that we were able to offset most of the challenges we faced while maintaining service excellence is a clear indication of our highly engaged team and our commitment to operating excellence.”
Norcia also said that clean energy legislation recently signed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) “creates a very clear roadmap for the development of additional solar, wind and storage assets” and aligns with DTE’s 20-year Integrated Resource Plan, which was approved by the PSC in July with the goal of reducing the company’s carbon emissions by 85% and ending coal usage by 2032. (See Whitmer Signs Climate Bills, Including 100% ‘Clean Energy’ Goal and DTE Earnings Focus on Faster Clean Energy Transition.)