While Customers Struggle With Shutoffs and Rising Bills, DTE Boosts Shareholder Profits and Blocks Clean Energy Alternatives

DTE Energy is disconnecting thousands of customers while increasing rates and expanding fossil fuel infrastructure, according to a new report. Despite growing energy affordability concerns, the company has continued investing in natural gas and opposing community solar, even as its profits surged 41% in 2024.

The report, released by the Center for Biological Diversity, analyzed shutoff data and financial records from six major utilities, finding that DTE cut power to 150,000 customers in 2024—most during the summer—while paying $607 million to shareholders.

Advocates say the company’s business model prioritizes profits over affordability and reliability, with rate hikes and time-of-use pricing disproportionately impacting low-income households. Meanwhile, DTE continues investing in gas-fired power and fighting policies that could expand community solar access for residents struggling with high bills and frequent outages.

Fossil fuel-driven heating, climate disasters and utility rate hikes often hit vulnerable populations hardest, said Selah Goodson Bell, energy justice campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity and co-author of the report.

“Extreme temperatures force customers to use more electricity to keep their homes cool or warm,” Goodson Bell told Planet Detroit.

He said this disproportionately impacts low-income areas and communities of color, where residents are subjected to the urban heat island effect and have homes with poor insulation that cost more to heat or cool

The report analyzed shutoff and financial data from six major utilities to assess the impact of business practices on customers.  It found that DTE was shutting off power to tens of thousands of customers during summer months while corporate earnings soared.

Meanwhile, DTE has continued to invest in natural gas infrastructure. It has also floated the need for more gas generation, which would add to human-caused global heating. And the utility has fought community solar efforts that advocates say could help improve affordability and reliability for customers.

DTE shut off gas and electric service to 378,000 customers between 2020 and October 2022. In 2024, the rate of shutoffs increased. DTE shut off electric service to 150,000 customers for nonpayment, with most disconnections occurring between May and September. Only one of the six utilities listed in the report shut off power to more customers than DTE.

Last summer’s utility shutoffs in southeast Michigan coincided with above-average temperatures and the introduction of time-of-use rates which increased energy costs for customers during the hottest parts of the day. In Detroit, average temperatures in May, June, and July ranked among the top 3% ever recorded.

Time-of-use rates can deepen inequities by making electricity more expensive when demand is highest, disproportionately affecting vulnerable households, the report says. It describes them as a “regressive attempt to mitigate the summer surge in energy demand and relieve pressure on the grid.” A 2019 Ohio State study also found that such pricing “disproportionately impact[s] the energy bills and health of vulnerable households.”

The report notes that DTE rate increases added $774 million in costs to customers between 2015 and 2019. Further increase followed with a $368 million rate hike in 2023 and $219 million increase in 2025.

While DTE’s rate hikes have made electricity less affordable for customers, its profits have risen. From January to September  the company reported $1.1 billion in net income – a 41% increase from the same period in 2023. According to the report, just 3% of the $607 million DTE delivered to shareholders during that period would have prevented all 150,000 of last year’s shutoffs.

DTE spokesperson Amanda Passage told Planet Detroit in a statement that the company is committed to keeping bills affordable.

“DTE and its agency partners offer a variety of assistance options to help those in need, including payment plans that fit their budgets. Last year alone, we connected customers to nearly $144 million in energy assistance,” she said.

Advocates Say DTE’s Business Model Prioritizes Fossil Fuels Over Reliability

DTE promotes its phase-out of coal and carbon-neutrality goals, but ratepayer advocates say the utility’s ongoing investment in natural gas and opposition to community solar harm residents and the climate.

Goodson Bell said DTE’s business model, which allows the company to earn a return on equity for its shareholders based on capital expenditures, incentivizes the company to invest in building new infrastructure – like gas plants that add planet-warming emissions.

He pointed to DTE’s deep ties to the fossil fuel industry as a key driver for continued gas investments, noting that DTE CEO Jerry Norcia recently led the American Gas Association, a gas industry lobbying group.

“If you don’t have a business model that appropriately accounts for health costs, for climate, for energy efficiency etc. then the utility is just going to keep building more and more,” he said.

Michigan advocates have previously criticized the utility and regulators for focusing on capital improvements at the expense of ongoing maintenance, like tree-trimming, which may do more to improve reliability but won’t earn shareholders a return.

Passage, with DTE, said the company is working to reduce emissions by phasing out its use of coal by 2032 and looking to meet the state’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2040.

Yet, the report says  DTE is not only continuing to invest in fossil fuel generation but also opposes community solar, where residents subscribe to offsite solar arrays and receive bill credits for the energy produced.

DTE opposed two community solar bills introduced in the Michigan Senate in 2023 that contained a 30% carve out for low-income customers. Advocates argued the legislation would help residents save money and improve reliability, while a report from Michigan State University said it would have created an estimated 18,500 jobs and brought in $1.4 billion in investments over the next 30 years.

Goodson Bell said it’s especially egregious that DTE continues to fight community solar despite the utility’s poor reliability, which has a disproportionate impact on low-income areas and communities of color.

“To both squeeze money out of ratepayers and limit their access to the very things that could improve their lives, it’s particularly exploitative,” he said.

This article first appeared on Planet Detroit and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Photo by JK Nair, Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

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The post DTE Profits Soar as Customers Face Shutoffs, Rising Rates and Fossil Fuel Expansion appeared first on DCReport.org.

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🖕FUCK THE LEGACY PRESS!🖕

President Elon Musk is waging war on the United States government with the aid of the authors of Project 2025. It’s the largest scandal in American history and the gravest constitutional crisis since the Civil War. The legacy press, however, is very busy watching the puppet Donald Trump wave shiny objects they know are not nearly as important.

Will tariffs hurt the economy? Sure. Will they hurt the economy even a fraction as much if some rabid ideologue or idiot kid who hasn’t even graduated college crashes the entire US Treasury computer system controlling 6 TRILLION fucking dollars in payments? The fuck it will.

Elon Musk did not pick these people for their competence. He picked them for their willingness to do whatever they’re told to do. And if it all blows up? Well, the goal is to kill the federal government anyway so who gives a shit?

Now, the legacy press knows this is happening. They keep mentioning it in passing and then moving on to much more important things like Donald Trump threatening Panama again. Very important. Very serious.

But the most serious attack on the rule of law in our lifetimes just doesn’t seem to be front-page news for some reason. It’s almost like the legacy press is, I dunno…collaborating with the Trump regime to dismantle the United States government.

It’s really important to understand that this is deliberate. By reporting on the coup without actually calling it one or putting any real muscle behind the reporting, the legacy press is downplaying the severity of the attack. Never forget for one second that these are the people who wrote over one HUNDRED fucking articles about Joe Biden’s age in just THREE fucking days last summer.

They’ve written maybe a dozen stories about this attack so far and none of them have been headline news.

By making it just a minor story buried under MUCH MORE IMPORTANT NEWS, the press is telling the public that this is nothing to really pay attention to. Look over there. Follow the shiny object Trump is waving.

The legacy press decides what the narrative is and they are choosing to make this story disappear by hiding it in plain sight.

They’re exactly the fucking scumbags we thought they were all along.

Last week, Paul Krugman spilled the tea on why he left the New York Times. Mind you, Krugman is a Nobel Prize-winning economist who is (was) immensely popular with the readers of the Times. A real newspaper would do anything ANYTHING to keep him on. Instead, they all but fired him:

In September 2024 my newsletter was suddenly suspended by the Times. The only reason I was given was “a problem of cadence”: according to the Times, I was writing too often. I don’t know why this was considered a problem, since my newsletter was never intended to be published as part of the regular paper. Moreover, it had proved to be popular with a number of readers.

As someone who has worked in the news/publishing business for the last 15 years, I can tell you definitively that in no universe is there such a thing as “too much content” from one of your most popular writers. The phrase “too much content” when your readership is in the millions is an oxymoron.

Driftglass on the Professional Left Podcast made the salient point that while Krugman was very popular with the Times’ audience of The Poors like you and me, he was NOT popular with the Times’ REAL audience: The .01%. Krugman kept telling them their greed was harming the country and they don’t like to be told they’re the bad guy. Therefore, Krugman had to shut his fucking mouth, thank you very much.

It gets worse:

Also in 2024, the editing of my regular columns went from light touch to extremely intrusive. I went from one level of editing to three, with an immediate editor and his superior both weighing in on the column, and sometimes doing substantial rewrites before it went to copy. These rewrites almost invariably involved toning down, introducing unnecessary qualifiers, and, as I saw it, false equivalence. I would rewrite the rewrites to restore the essence of my original argument. But as I told Charles Kaiser, I began to feel that I was putting more effort—especially emotional energy—into fixing editorial damage than I was into writing the original articles. And the end result of the back and forth often felt flat and colorless.

I’ve had articles “fixed” where the end result was the literal opposite of what I originally wrote. It was infuriating and I’m just some schmuck at a keyboard with a lot of angry opinions. I can’t imagine what that was like for Paul Krugman who has written several books and did I mention he has a Nobel Prize in Economics?

Last week, we also found out that CNN told its anchors not to mention Trump is a twice-impeached convicted felon during coverage of the inauguration. They also forced out Jim Acosta because he wouldn’t stop telling Republicans that they were fascist liars.

My personal favorite was this article from the Columbia Journalism Review in which White House reporters could barely contain their glee at the return of Trump:

But for a surprising number of people on the daily White House beat, that concern is mixed with another, more privately expressed emotion: relief at finally being rid of the Joe Biden press operation.

“I think it’s important for people to understand the context, that we’re coming out of four years of Biden and things haven’t been great,” one White House print reporter told CJR. “There’ve been fewer eyeballs on the press briefings and less attention than under Trump, so people just don’t understand some of the very frustrating things that we’ve dealt with and that we hope are going to be rolled back.”

Translation: Biden was boooooring. He wouldn’t give them the access and gaffes and scandal they desperately crave. They had to report boring news. Not sensational shiny objects. How are they supposed to get book deals? How are they supposed to win awards? Where’s the excitement?!

I’ve been saying this since the 2020 election but, holy fuck, to just have them come out and admit is even more vile than I imagined. Some small part of my mind imagines the grim satisfaction I’ll have when Trump has the Proud Boys line up the White House press room against the wall and shoots them. “Is that enough excitement for you, you stupid fucks?”

So the legacy press has utterly and completely failed us on every level. Those who are not openly complicit are so blinded by their own greed and self-interest they refuse to acknowledge that their job is not to be “exciting” but to report on what is actually happening and to safeguard democracy.1 And not for nothing, reporting on a coup is pretty fucking exciting, no? But decades of treating Republicans as “normal” no matter what they do has been ingrained on a genetic level in the legacy press.

This is why I’ve been telling people to cancel their subscriptions to the NYT, the Washington Post, definitely tell the LA Times to go fuck itself. Politico is owned by a pro-Trump scumbag. The Hill has been propaganda for years. CNN is bending the knee. If Rachel Maddow isn’t fired by MSNBC by the summer, it will be a miracle.

Find independent media to support. Your hometown papers. Local newsletters. Local news stations that haven’t been consumed by Sinclair. Journalists who have been driven out of the media by billionaire owners. Substacks and newsletters like this one.2

Rachel Maddow got into this on Monday’s show. The oligarchs want to destroy the press because control of the media means they can create whatever reality they want. That’s why Musk bought Twitter. That’s why Zuckerberg “suddenly” discovered he loves free speech that unleashes right-wing hate. That’s why Jeff Bezos is quietly neutering the Washington Post and Patrick Soon-Shiong is smothering the LA Times. It’s why Google has declared the United States a “sensitive country” whose information needs to be curtailed according to the dictates of the Dear Leader.

We need a free press and that means we need to put our money behind the outlets that will not cower in fear before the fascists. And when this is over, the collaborators must be held to account for poisoning our national dialogue for profit. Propaganda is not free speech and those who work to destroy this country need to be removed if we are to survive as a country.

There are 272 days until the first Blue Wave and it starts in Virginia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

The legacy media has abandoned us in favor of sucking up to oligarchs and fascism. Find voices you trust (other than me) and subscribe where you can. Independent voices like the Opinionated Ogre will be needed in the coming days and we will require your support. This newsletter is free but for $5 a month or just $50 a year, you can keep the lights on.

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One good side-effect of contemporary politics is that a more sober look at the merits and demerits of the US Founders’ legacy is possible again. (Of course, here at CrookedTimber we pride ourselves on our sobriety in such matters; it helps many of us reside in distant shores.) The current US President has contempt for reverence toward the past; and his opponents have no time for reflection.

One defect in the US Founders’ constitution is that while they are very concerned with developing mechanisms against what Machiavelli and his followers called ‘corruption’ — a word frequently used in the Federalist Papers —, but that it leaves too little room for what Machiavelli and his followers would have called ‘renewal’ (or ‘renovation’)—a word almost wholly absent from the Federalist Papers. In the Machiavellian sense, corruption is not just about illegal and legalized bribery, but also and even more about the bending of the rules such that when they function properly the public good is structurally undermined. There is a glimpse of awareness of this lacuna to be found in the historiographic debate(s) over the status of Lincoln as a so-called ‘refounder’ of the constitution, despite the fact that the US civil war conclusively indicates its failure.

Yet, as Machiavelli notes, “those [republics and religions] are best organized and have longest life that through their institutions can often renew themselves or that by some accident outside their organization come to such renewal.” Discourses on Livy (hereafter Discourses; 3.1), translated by Allan Gilbert (Chief Works, Vol. 1) p. 419. So, if you take what one may call, ‘Machiavellian social theory,’ seriously it is not an irrelevant topic.

One sign that corruption in the Machiavellian sense is very advanced is that the existing institutions that are supposed to renew a republic fail to do so. And one discovers this empirically, alas, in all the wrong ways: namely through catastrophic failure. An especially notable recent example of this can be found if we reflect on the then Senate Republican leader’s reasoning to explain his stance toward impeachment on 13 February 2021:

“In one light, it certainly does seem counterintuitive that an officeholder can elude Senate conviction by resignation or expiration of term.

“But this just underscores that impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice.

“Impeachment, conviction, and removal are a specific intra-governmental safety valve. It is not the criminal justice system, where individual accountability is the paramount goal.

“Indeed, Justice Story specifically reminded that while former officials were not eligible for impeachment or conviction, they were “still liable to be tried and punished in the ordinary tribunals of justice.”

“We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former Presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.

Leaving aside the merits of the Senator’s understanding of the purpose of intra-governmental safety-valves, it turns out that the criminal justice system and civil litigation were already fatally corrupted. I suspect Senator McConnell was as blinded to this fact as most inside the Beltway. It’s a peculiar fact that the very people who know a system’s limitations best are often the most ardent institutionalists.

Because the political and conceptual frame of reference of the contemporary left and contemporary right is so shaped by the twentieth century and its fondness for monocausal roads to totalitarianism, ‘corruption’ seems quaint compared to fascism, Stalinism, national-socialism, etc. The important thing about corruption, then, is that its sources are not monocausal. (So, it’s not just the absence of a scary enemy, or the pernicious role of wealth in the political and criminal justice system, or rent-seeking, or the abolition of the draft, the open primaries, the destruction of The Glass–Steagall act, the generous reduction of top marginal tax rates of the income tax, the socialization of risk among the 1% while keeping the rewards, the perversion of free speech in Citizens United, [and introduce all your pet theories] etc.) The dispositions and practices that uphold a well-functioning constitutional order are multifaceted and so usually a source of robust-ness; but also sensitive to the particularities of the polity.

But because the US constitution deliberately makes amendment difficult and de facto presupposes either a broad consensus among the political class or among the citizens (or both) to make it possible, it actually makes what we might call ongoing structural renewal extra difficult. This status quo bias has many virtues, but it also means that when it most needs actual renewal it will be least likely to occur. In particular, if such ongoing renewal is not of interest to the executive branch it seems dead upon arrival.

In fact, what’s crucial about ages of advanced corruption is that even the most well-intended technocratic tinkering (single transferable vote, sortition, fact-checking, political quotas, proportional representation, etc.) almost comically misses the mark. Even if they bring some of the benefits their advocates promise (I am myself a fan of proportional representation), for their proper functioning they presuppose an uncorrupted regime.

I don’t mean to suggest that Machiavelli himself provides much guidance on how to regulate corruption prevention and subsequent renewal. In order to block corruption, his main suggestion that is compatible with modern liberal democracy is to set up mechanisms for regular accountability of officeholders not just to voters, but also to other office holders. Most of his other suggestions involve public offices that regulate the ambition and pride of public officeholders and ambitious citizens—that route was rejected a long time ago (although loyalty oaths might come back into fashion for the wrong reasons).*

So, when a state of corruption has arrived one must hope on Machiavelli’s view that one is visited by charismatic political leaders, who call the people back to its former ways (and so manage to introduce needed reforms), although such calling back may involve institutional and cultural innovation. But, alas, this is most likely to work after, say, military defeat (a “blow from outside” (p. 420)).

The problem here is that such a political leader must in the context of a corrupt polity, itself engage in modes of activity that are legally and morally dubious at best, and awful in practice (as reflection on all ‘Enlightened dictators’ teach us). This is not a bug, but a feature of the theory of renewal. And, unfortunately, recognition of this fact means that even when there is consensus on the reality that ‘we’ find ourselves in a corrupt state, a political leader’s decisive actions may be interpreted as either a means to overcome corruption (that’s the arc from “the flight 93 election” to the present on the political right) or an instrument of reinforcing it.

From the vantage point of Machiavellian social theory, the re-election of Trump, who has given the keys to the Treasury and its data-management to Musk, is evidence of the height of corruption; whereas for (let’s call them what they are) the accelerationists this is the means toward renewal. The US polity has reached that very duck-rabbit point (itself a sign of corruption).

This week-end’s abrupt attempt, through pre-emptive tariff changes, to reshape the global environment to new political reality is the beginning of the test to what degree the US can ignore the reactions of the rest of the world (and stack the deck toward a certain kind of new, Mercantile regime) as its struggles internally over its future. Your guess is as good as mine in these matters, but I strongly suspect that none of the rules of thumb and maxims about how the world really works that policymakers, commentators, global businesses, NGOs, and academics have relied upon for, say, the last thirty to sixty years, are going to be very robust.

• A modestly revised version of this post first appeared (here) at DigressionsNimpressions.

*In fact, because modern liberal democracies refuse to impose terror on their populations, one may well suspect that Machiavelli is wholly irrelevant for our predicament. For, the function of renewal for Machiavelli is:

By revising the government they meant inspiring such terror and such fear in the people as they had inspired on first taking charge, for at that time they punished those who, according to that kind of government, had done wrong. When the memory of such punishment disappears, men take courage to attempt innovations and to speak evil; therefore it is necessary to provide against them by moving the government back toward its beginnings. (421; emphasis added)

While we sit here tonight, Elon Musk is in the process of executing a coup against the US government.  As we’ve been discussing, his hackers have taken over computer systems in Office of Personnel Management, USAID, and the US Treasury.  He’s also in the process of taking over other agencies.  Musk has already announced that he’s cancelling USAID and newly minted secretary of state Marco Rubio has declared himself “acting director” of USAID.  Employees at USAID and Treasury who attempted to protect the integrity of the systems have either been fired of put on administrative leave, and the acting US attorney in DC, Ed Martin, is now threatening criminal prosecution of all federal employees resisting Musk’s illegal takeover.

Folks, this is the very definition of a coup against the government of the United States.  It’s also espionage, which is a federal felony.  We have one private individual taking personal control of government agencies, announcing what will stay and what will go, even which bills the government will pay.  He now has access to the private personal and financial information of millions of Americans, including you.  Career civil servants are being fired and threatened, and some are choosing just to walk away. This is happening under Trump’s acquiesence, which is an impeachable offense.  AGAIN.

The Congress, of course, is doing nothing but talk.  To be clear, Republicans aren’t doing shit and not even talking.  This is a major crisis, and ALL THE RED LIGHTS ARE FLASHING.

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) occur due to impacts, falls, or accidents that harm brain function. Cases are rising due to increased sports participation, road accidents, and aging populations prone to falls. Greater awareness and improved diagnostic tools also contribute to reported cases, highlighting the urgency of prevention and effective care strategies.

A traumatic injury is any injury that affects how the brain works. Different kinds of brain injuries are classified according to how they affect the brain. Speaking with an injury lawyer may help you move forward with your case and help you receive compensation. Generally, brain trauma falls into the following categories: 

• Mild 
• Moderate 
• Severe 

The physicians will categorize the injury based on the underlying factors such as the patient’s mobility.

At-risk Population Groups

According to the CDC, several population groups are more likely to suffer from a traumatic brain injury. They include: 

• Racial or ethnic minorities 
• Homeless people 
• Survivor of domestic violence
• People residing in rural regions
• People in correctional or detention facility 
• Service members and veterans 

Can You Have a Traumatic Brain Injury and Not Know?

Did you know you can suffer from a mild traumatic injury and have no idea? Yes, these injuries can manifest in different ways, and some patients have no idea what the problem is. 

The injury may sometimes manifest in a delayed fashion with mild signs such as impulsive behavior, blurry vision, nausea, vomiting, irritable behavior, and headaches. Some family members even report a change in the patient’s personality.

Factors That Can Lead to a Traumatic Brain Injury 

Different circumstances may cause a brain injury, such as a bad accident. While we expect such injuries to be related to severe incidents, several factors, such as age, medications, and others, may increase the chances of a traumatic brain injury from a minor accident. 

Several factors can lead to a traumatic brain injury, such as the ones listed below:

• A fall: This one leads to almost half of all traumatic brain injuries 

• Firearm-related suicide: The most common cause of traumatic brain injuries in the US

• Motor vehicles and assaults: Another common cause of traumatic brain injury

Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injuries 

The consequences of brain injuries depend on the severity of the injury. Some brain injuries only last a few days, and others last years to a lifetime. Statistics show that most people with mild injuries recover safely at home, while people with moderate or severe injuries need proper care to recover safely. 

Traumatic injuries experienced in childhood might have far-reaching consequences. This is because they may disrupt a child’s development and limit their activity to participate in activities pertaining to youth like sports. 

Such injuries may affect a child’s behavior, health, ability to participate in activities, and self-regulation. In summary, traumatic brain injuries experienced in childhood need proper care and monitoring to reduce the effects they may have on the patient’s development. 

Treatment 

Treatment for a brain injury will, for the most part, be determined by the kind of problem. When you get to the emergency room, the doctors will start by evaluating your injury using clinical and radiographical procedures.

Once thoroughly evaluated, the treatment procedure will be determined by the kind of injury and its severity. Luckily, only about 20 percent of brain injuries require some form of operation. For the most part, patients are closely monitored with imaging procedures. 

Over the years, treatment for traumatic brain injury has significantly improved. Today, Hospitals have state-of-the-art equipment capable of detecting brain swelling in the early stages. Therefore, the capacity of hospitals to detect small to mild brain injuries is nothing compared to what it was, say, a decade or two ago. 

Conclusion

Evidently, traumatic brain injury cases are on the rise across the United States. The surge may be due to risk factors such as age and underlying medical conditions. Moreover, the increase in road accidents may also have a role to play. Unfortunately, recuperating from a traumatic brain injury can take time and long-term medical care. 

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It is by now a trite observation that the Donald Trump administration strategy by way of Stephen Miller is to flood the zone: To inundate the public with so many orders and changes and appointments and firings that no one can keep up with all of it. The point is to overwhelm. Overwhelmed people don’t fight back.

This is particularly destabilizing to people for whom politics is a hobby / identity / job (hello, it’s me). If you’re a person who reads several different newspapers and has a few issues you care about most but also tries to stay up-to-date on what’s happening generally, the last two weeks have been impossible. This is the point.

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Our task now is not to follow every twist and turn and to know every bit of minutiae. That doesn’t matter (or at least, it may be counter-productive to try to follow all of it). What matters is identifying the patterns and understanding the larger goals of this administration— and then interrupting the most dangerous efforts.

What most strikes me about this moment is the realizing that nearly everything we consider real is simply made up. As in: Society itself is a series of agreements, upon which many other things are built. Democracy is an idea; a dollar has value because we collectively agree it does. That is a radical oversimplification of how democratic nations functions and economies work, but in truth, most of what props up our day-to-day is laid on invisible ground. We collectively agree to walk on that invisible ground because it helps (among many other things) to keep us safe and prosperous and nominally functional. And we have various guardrails up: Courts that are supposed to follow written-down laws and the Constitution, for one.

But right now we’re watching a handful of people simply decide that they no longer want to walk on the ground we’ve all agreed is below our feet.

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