DTE Energy is committed to keeping energy affordable for our customers. Reasonable electricity rates, for businesses as well as residential customers, contribute to the strength and competitiveness of Michigan’s economy. Over the next decade, we must invest significantly in new, cleaner generation to meet environmental standards, while maintaining and enhancing reliability. We are aggressively pursuing continuous improvement in productivity and efficiency to ensure continued energy affordability for our customers.
We also encourage our customers to take advantage of our residential energy efficiency programs – which reached more than 550,000 electric and 300,000 gas customers in 2014 – to help lower their natural gas and electric bills.
For our residential customers, annual bills tend to be a better measure of affordability than rates alone. DTE Electric residential customers’ electric bills are 18 percent below the national average. And in spite of the fact that Michiganders use far more natural gas than most Americans due to our state’s cold winters, combined electric and natural gas bills are only slightly higher than the national average.
In December 2015, DTE Electric received approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission for the company’s first rate increase in four years. The increase was requested to cover our investments in environmental compliance, generating facilities and reliability improvement projects. Even after this approval, rates remain lower than they were in 2013 for all customers, due to decreases in surcharges and fuel costs that we passed along to customers over the last three years.
For our industrial customers that compete on a global or regional scale and have energy-intensive manufacturing processes, competitive electric rates are especially important.
Since 2013,DTE Electric industrial rates have declined 22 percent, and they are now below the national and regional average.
For the residential and business customers of DTE Gas, we have been lowering prices steadily since 2008. This reflects the substantial increase in natural gas supply in the United States. In addition, Michigan’s unique geology allows us to buy large quantities of natural gas when prices are low and store it underground until it is needed during the cold winter months, giving DTE customers price stability.
Low-Income Self-Sufficiency Plan
While unemployment rates have improved in Michigan, there are still many people struggling to pay their bills. Roughly 20 percent of Michigan residents live below the poverty line, and we currently have about 500,000 customers who need energy assistance. However, government funding for low-income customer assistance has been declining.
DTE Energy pioneered an innovative program called the Low-Income Self-Sufficiency Plan to help economically stressed customers bridge the gap between extreme-weather energy bills and reduced government aid. This proactive, year-round assistance program helps customers budget for their energy payments, avoid service interruptions during hard times, and puts them on a path to self-sufficiency.
Under DTE’s Low-Income Self-Sufficiency Plan, customers who enroll are required to pay a fixed amount every month based on income. Their unpaid bill totals are frozen and reduced quarterly with successful payment compliance. Another benefit of the plan is access to DTE’s energy efficiency programs. Homes receive energy assessments, weatherization, compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving assistance. Customers can obtain assistance for an entire year with one call, and they can access this help without having to wait until they reach a financial crisis point. The improved process also helps DTE avoid the cost of managing repeated phone calls, disconnects and service restorations.
During 2015, 34,000 customers enrolled in the Low-Income Self-Sufficiency Plan and 90 percent successfully stayed in the program. This is a very high retention rate compared to typical assistance programs – indicating that the plan addresses factors that are important to our customers.
We expect to grow the enrollment in 2016 to about 35,000 customers. Less than 2% of our 34,000 LSP customers experienced a service disconnect (compared to 55% for traditional assistance programs). In addition, the LSP program continues to have higher customer satisfaction than other programs (96% compared to 70%).
Sixth Annual Week of Warmth Helps 30,000
In partnership with The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), DTE Energy was proud to present the sixth annual Week of Warmth in response to the growing need for energy assistance in our communities. During November 2015, we collaborated in an effort to prepare as many vulnerable households as possible for the upcoming winter season. In total, we raised and distributed nearly $1 million of energy assistance to improve energy affordability for more than 30,000 Michigan households. Seventy DTE volunteers worked as a team as part of Neighborhood Energy Efficiency Day (NEED) and performed 126 Home Energy Consultations to help vulnerable residents reduce their energy usage.
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