DTE’s peak-hour rates in Michigan are on the cusp of California’s
DTE peak-hour rate is about 2 cents less than California’s average energy price in 2021
Starting in March, DTE Energy, energy supplier to 40% of Michigan, will move many customers to a price schedule that includes higher rates for electricity used during peak hours. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, energy costs will be higher than they are the rest of the week.
In the months of June through September, the peak-hour rate will be 20.98 cents per kilowatt hour, or kWh.
That’s just under 2 cents less than the average retail price for residential electricity customers in California in 2021. The price then was 22.82 cents per hour, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The DTE price is 1.84 cents per kWh lower.
Jason Hayes, the Mackinac Center’s director of environmental policy, said he worries for Michiganders who will soon be faced with higher energy bills.
“In the past, time-of-day systems were made voluntary for customers,” Hayes told CapCon. “Not anymore. They want you to use less energy.”
DTE presents peak-hour billing as a way to “smooth out peaks in demand.”
Starting in March, DTE’s rate for non-peak times will be 15.45 cents per kWh. In October through May, the rate will be 16.75 cents per kWh.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.