DTE Energy is on pace to invest more than $4 billion this year to strengthen its electric grid and transition to cleaner sources of energy, the company said in its third quarter earnings statement Thursday. Already, the Detroit-based utility has spent more than $3 billion in 2024 to improve reliability and outage restoration.
“In the third quarter of 2024 alone, we started construction of three new solar energy parks. We are also building or energizing 10 new substations,” DTE Energy Chairman and CEO Jerry Norcia said in a statement. Michigan wants utilities to deliver at least 60% renewable energy by 2035.
The utility reported third quarter earnings of $477 million, or $2.30 per diluted share, compared with $332 million, or $1.61 per diluted share, in Q3 2023.
“Our solid financial strength and constructive regulatory environment allow us to continue to invest above our generated cash flows for improved reliability and cleaner generation,” Norcia said.
Utility officials said those investments align with the findings of an audit published in September by the Michigan Public Service Commission, which found DTE’s electric utility is “worse than average” when it comes to power outage restoration times.
DTE has developed a strategy to reduce power outages by 30% and reduce outage times by half by 2029, Norcia said. The utility will also update its five-year investment plan later this year.
“We view the audit results as constructive and supportive of our capital plan,” Joi Harris, DTE president and chief operating officer, said in an earnings call today. The audit “highlights the need for strategic investment in our distribution system ... [and] confirmed our proposed investment plan will deliver the dramatic improvement in reliability that we have committed to our customers.”
DTE is planning to file a formal response to the audit in November.
The utility’s ongoing electric rate case is expected to conclude in January, Harris said. DTE has requested the approval of a mechanism allowing it to recover grid investments between rate cases, she said.
DTE confirmed its 2024 operating earnings guidance at $6.54/share to $6.83/share.
“We are confident that we will achieve our financial targets in 2024 while making significant strides in our infrastructure investment plan to improve how we produce and deliver energy for our customers and communities,” DTE Executive Vice President and CFO David Ruud said in a statement.
