DTE Energy

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AI Overview

The association between Mike Rogers and DTE Energy stems from political attacks and historical campaign finance records where his past congressional campaigns accepted corporate PAC contributions from DTE Energy. [1]

Details on Mike Rogers and Utility Funding

• Historical Support: During his previous tenure as a U.S. Representative for Michigan, Mike Rogers' campaign committees received contributions from corporate political action committees, including DTE Energy. [1]
• 2026 Senate Campaign Context: In the 2026 Michigan U.S. Senate race, political opponents (such as Democratic nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed) have highlighted Rogers' historical ties to corporate PACs like DTE Energy, contrasting them with candidates who reject corporate PAC money. [1, 2]
• Broader Fundraising Profile: Rogers' current Senate bid (competing in the 2026 general election) has heavily relied on joint fundraising committees (Team Rogers, Mike Rogers Victory) and substantial outside super PAC backing—such as millions tied to conservative megadonors and outside groups like the Great Lakes Conservative Fund and the Senate Leadership Fund—rather than direct contemporary funding from utility PACs. [1, 2, 3]

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In 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies and efforts to save lives in her state made her a major target of the pandemic denialist movement. Armed members of far-right militia groups showed up at rallies in Lansing, the state capitol, to protest against the pandemic-related restrictions she ordered in Michigan, and Whitmer even became the target of a kidnapping plot. In late December 2022, far-right extremist Barry Croft, Jr. was sentenced to 19 years in prison for his role in that plot; his ally Adam Fox received a 16-year sentence.

The pandemic restrictions that Whitmer imposed in Michigan weren’t nearly as severe as the restrictions imposed in places ranging from Australia to Italy in 2020. Regardless, the far right and the MAGA movement attacked Whitmer’s policies as everything from anti-business to anti-religion, and her allies feared for her safety.

In 2020, the anti-Whitmer campaign wasn’t limited to fringe militia groups. According to The Guardian’s Tom Perkins, a utility company was linked to the “dark money nonprofit” behind the Unlock Michigan campaign — which vehemently opposed her COVID-19 policies. A spokesman for that energy company, however, insists that it supported Whitmer’s policies during the pandemic.

READ MORE: [The unbearable sexism of a press corps covering Ron DeSantis more than Gretchen Whitmer

Perkins, in an article published by The Guardian on January 10, reports, “A dark money nonprofit linked to power utility DTE Energy funded a group behind the effort to repeal the emergency order powers of Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and end the state’s COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. Internal Revenue Service records revealing a $100,000 donation made in 2020 were not publicly available until late 2021, and show the funds were contributed to another dark money nonprofit that served as a primary funder of the Unlock Michigan repeal campaign.”

Utility companies, Perkins reports, “generally opposed lockdowns” in 2020 and requirements that they “stop shutting off service to financially struggling customers” during the pandemic.

According to Perkins, “Unlock Michigan was ultimately successful, complicating Whitmer’s efforts to order restrictions and ending any serious discussion of shutoff moratoriums that includedDTE, the state’s largest energy utility…. Michigan was a global flashpoint in the cultural and political fight over how governments should handle COVID. Whitmer’s lockdowns were effective at controlling the virus’ spread, but right-wing opposition to the restrictions culminated with multiple protests and armed protesters storming the state legislature in mid-2020. Against this backdrop, the DTE-affiliated dark money group made its contribution.”

Peter Ternes, a DTE spokesman, stressed to The Guardian that DTE itself did not make the nonprofit donation in question. Although DTE is linked to the nonprofit, Perkins reports, the DTE spokesman told The Guardian that it “unequivocally” did not that make that donation and said that “we do not speak for” the dark money nonprofit that donated to the Unlock Michigan campaign.

READ MORE:**Two men found guilty in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer**

Ternes told The Guardian, “DTE unequivocally is not financially supporting the Unlock Michigan/MI Citizens For Fiscal Responsibility campaign. Furthermore, DTE has worked hand-in-hand with the governor to protect our customers, employees and the public throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The actions taken by the state have slowed COVID transmission and death rates.”

But Perkins reports that “state and federal records show how the money probably moved between DTE and Unlock Michigan.”

“IRS records reveal a 2020 donation made by Michigan Energy First, a DTE-linked dark money nonprofit, to a dark money nonprofit called Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility,” according to Perkins. “Michigan Energy First’s three officers are DTE executives who work with an attorney, federal records show, and company executives have controlled the nonprofit since it was created in 2014. Michigan Energy First has funded DTE allies in the state legislature, promoted the company’s interests on social media, funded community organizations whose leaders in turn support DTE in regulatory hearings, and financially backed or opposed political initiatives, like Unlock Michigan.”

Perkins adds, “Though DTE denies involvement with Michigan Energy First, its argument is based on technicalities, and it’s widely considered to be DTE’s dark money nonprofit, said Matt Kasper, deputy director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a national nonprofit that tracks utilities’ political spending.”

Kasper told The Guardian, “When they say they don’t control (Michigan Energy First) or it’s not part of the company.… sure, it’s not part of the utility corporation itself, but they’ve had their top lobbyists running it for eight years. Customers see right through it, and regulators and lawmakers do too.”

MAGA opposition to Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies in 2020 and 2021 didn’t prevent her from being reelected in the 2022 midterms, which found her defeating far-right Republican challenger Tudor Dixon by around 11 percent.

READ MORE:**How Gretchen Whitmer and other Democratic governors are fighting to protect abortion rights**

==

In

late 2011, the impoverished little municipality was so deep in debt to

its public electric company, DTE Energy, that the local government was

forced to decommission all streetlights on

its residential streets. Not only did DTE cut the power to street lights in Highland Park, it sent out workers to physically nearly 1,000 light-poles from the neighborhood. Highland Parkers now live in permanent, debt-induced darkness.

Six

miles away, in Detroit’s rapidly gentrifying downtown area, DTE Energy

runs a very different public policy. The same company that repossessed

1,000 streetlights from Highland Park, condemning its residents to

permanent darkness, has recently launched a pro-bono security program in the increasingly white area.

:{On its own dime, DTE operates a public “bait car”

program. It buys and sets booby-trap cars out on the downtown streets,

outfitted with up to 18 hidden cameras, to lure and ultimately deter

potential car theft.A partnership with downtown police assures that cops will be on the scene within 90 seconds of when the bait car is entered.}:

“We want to be part of something good about changing perceptions of the city of Detroit,” DTE’s chief security officer boasts of the bait-car program, “We want to be part of the revitalization of the city.”

Safety is a privilege in Detroit. Like all privileges, it gravitates toward the white and wealthy.

Decades

of budget cuts to public safety services alongside concentrated

investment downtown has created two Detroits: downtown, white and

professional, bathed in state-of-the-art private security; and the

“neighborhoods,” poor and black, where public safety has become a

do-it-yourself endeavor.

Turning out the Lights

In

Detroit’s black neighborhoods, public safety has been sacrificed to the

gods of austerity. With the city government too poor provide basic

security, safety has become a private commodity, accessible to the

wealthy, but far out of reach for the majority of Detroiters.

The

slow but massive exodus of capital and residents over the last

half-century has left the Motor City broken down and overgrown in

municipal debt. By the time Detroit faced its financial day of reckoning

in bankruptcy court, years of budget cuts had already dismantled its

most basic public services—police, fire, even streetlights—to barely

functional levels.

The steady, long-term disinvestment in public safety shows through in crime rates.

In a given week, Detroit averages seven

murders, 226 burglaries, 92 robberies, 169 aggravated assaults, 228

cars stolen, 331 larceny thefts, 12 rapes, and 279 violent crimes — the

vast majority occurring in the neighborhoods and leading to no arrests.

These dark accolades have earned Detroit the most dangerous city in

America honor five out of the last seven years.

Absurdly

underfunded emergency services are unable to keep up with the city’s

record crime. In 2013, the same year Detroit led the country with 333

homicides, its police department took a $75 million— or 18% — overall

haircut. Emergency Medical Services has taken similar hits.

In 2005, Detroit had 303 paramedics working the streets. By 2010, the

working paramedic count was cut to 188 to match a shrinking budget. The

result: 911 response times.*

==

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DTE_Energy

is a Detroit, Michigan-based utility, incorporated in 1995, involved in

the development and management of energy-related businesses and

services nationwide.

DTE Energy's largest operating subsidiaries are Detroit Edison, an

investor-owned electric utility serving 2.1 million customers in

Southeastern Michigan, and Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. (MichCon), a

natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in Michigan.

Compensation

In May 2007, Forbes listed DTE Energy CEO Anthony F. Earley Jr.

as receiving $4.84 million in total compensation for the latest fiscal

year, with a four-year total compensation of $18.31 million. He ranked

19th on the list of CEOs in the Utilities industry, and 290th among all

CEOs in the United States.^[2]

Power portfolio

Out of its total 13,041 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005

(1.22% of the U.S. total), DTE Energy produces 61.3% from coal, 16.4%

from natural gas, 11.7% from oil, 9.3% from nuclear, and 0.2% from

biomass. DTE owns power plants in Alabama, California, Illinois, and

Michigan; 95.5% of the company's generating capacity comes from power

plants in Michigan.^[3]

Power costs

In October 2010, DTE Energy filed a request with the Michigan Public

Service Commission for a $253-million rate hike that would cost an

average electric customer about $5 more a month. According to company

officials, the hike is needed to "comply with EPA

environmental improvements to reduce polluting emissions from

coal-fired plants, make up for a decline in demand for electricity from

commercial and industrial users, and cover rising costs of health care

for the utility's employees." The request came on the same day that DTE

Energy announced third-quarter earnings of $163 million or 96 cents per

share, representing an increase over the third quarter of 2009, when the

utility earned $151 million or 92 cents per share.^[4]

Existing coal-fired power plants

DTE Energy had 22 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 7,998

MW of capacity. Here is a list of DTE's coal power plants with capacity

over 100 MW:^[3][5][6]

In 2006, DTE's 7 major coal-fired power plants emitted 43.3 million tons of CO₂ (0.7% of all U.S. CO₂ emissions) and 214,000 tons of SO₂ (1.4% of all U.S. SO₂ emissions).

Monroe plant

According to the non-profit Clean Air Task Force, DTE’s Monroe coal

plant is responsible for more adverse health impacts than any other

plant in the country — 278 deaths, 206 hospital admissions and 445 heart

attacks.^[7]

According to a 2009 report by Environment America, "America's Biggest

Polluters," the Monroe Power Plant is the seventh largest carbon dioxide emitting plant in the nation, releasing 20.6 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2007.^[8]

In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies

compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United

States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.

Monroe Power Plant ranked number 5 on the list, with 4,110,859 pounds

of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.^[9]

In 2009, Monroe Power Plant began operating two flue gas desulfurization systems. DTE said two more scrubbers and a fourth SCR would be installed at the plant.^[10] On August 5, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sued DTE Energy,

alleging DTE made major modifications in March 2010 to Unit 2 at its

Monroe Power Plant without first obtaining necessary approvals. The $30

million overhaul was made without installing, as required under the New Source Review requirements of the Clean Air Act, the best available technology to minimize emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides -- pollutants that harm human health by contributing to heart attacks, breathing problems, and other health problems,

the suit alleges. The EPA is asking a federal judge to shut down the

unit and halt further modifications until DTE complies with the Clean

Air Act. It also asks for civil penalties of up to $37,500 per day.^[11]

On December 22, 2010, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources and

Environment air quality division said it approved a permit that allows

DTE to burn more coal and also petroleum coke at the Monroe plant. As

part of the newly approved permit, DTE will install wet flue gas

desulphurization and selective catalytic reduction systems — on the two

of its four units that don’t have them. DTE spokesman John Austerberry

said the company will have the pollution controls installed by late

2014.^[7]

Shannon Fisk, an attorney for the National Resources Defense, which

has joined EPA in the federal lawsuit against DTE over violating the New Source Review

provisions when it upgraded its Unit 2, pointed out the MDNRE issued

DTE’s permit just 8 days after the end of the public comment period

regarding greenhouse gas

emissions. If the permit remained under consideration until January,

EPA’s new greenhouse gas permitting policy would have required an

analysis of best available controls for reducing CO2 emissions, he said. This would have required DTE to look at the possibility of using natural gas for power or finding ways to improve energy efficiency.^[7]

Biomass plants and conversion projects

[DTE Energy]] is acquiring stakes from Mt. Poso Cogeneration Plant owners Red Hawk Energy and Northern Star Generation to convert the plant to burn 100% biomass - agricultural and residential green waste from nearby areas.^[12]

The third partner in the Mt Poso plant, MacPherson Oil, intends to

continue its ownership and management interest in the facility. As a

biomass facility, Mt. Poso would produce about 44MW of power, DTE said,

enough electricity to supply about 35,000 homes. Power is to be sold to

California utility PG&E under a long-term power purchase agreement.^[13]

DTE has completed a similar biomass conversion, the Stoneman Generating Station,

in Cassville, Wisconsin, and has another under way in Stockton,

California. It also operates biomass power plants in Woodland,

California. and Mobile, Alabama. The biomass conversion is expected to

be complete in 2012.^[13]

Congressional campaign contributions

DTE Energy is one of the largest contributors to candidates for

Congress. These contributions total $317,499 to the 110th US Congress

(as of the third quarter), the largest of which has been to Rep. Carl

Levin (D-MI) for $21,500. Congressman Levin, for his part, has been a

strong supporter of the coal industry on energy bills. [1]

Contributions like this from from fossil fuel companies to members of

Congress are often seen as a political barrier to pursuing clean

energy.[2]

More information on coal industry contributions to Congress can be

found at FollowtheCoalMoney.org, a project sponsored by the nonpartisan,

nonprofit Oil Change USA and Appalachian Voices.

Credit Reporting Program

In August 2006, DTE began reporting payment information to the major

credit bureaus on all of its 2.5 million customers, without offering the

ability to opt-out, making it one of the few utilities in the U.S. to

do so. Previously, only seriously delinquent accounts had been reported.

Groups such as the NAACP protested this change, arguing that such a

policy would benefit those who have no problems paying their bills, but

would hurt those who are the most vulnerable economically and most

likely to miss a payment, such as the poor, elderly, and disabled. This,

in effect, would hurt their credit rating, and further hamper their

ability to advance in society.

In January 2007, DTE changed the policy to state that only payments 60 days or more overdue would be reported to credit bureaus.

Citizen activism

NAACP Clearing the Air Road Tour

Yvonne White of NAACP speaks about River Rouge Power Plant.

In April 2010, Jacqui Patterson of the NAACP Climate Justice

interviewed community members in River Rouge. Jacqui wrote the following

account of the impacts of the River Rouge Power Plant:^[14]

• • The River Rouge Power Plant located in the River Rouge Community of

Southwest Detroit, Michigan, is surrounded by low income communities,

primarily comprised of people of color, specifically African American

and Latino. The plant is a mere two blocks from the start of one

neighborhood and there is a park where people bring their families

barbecue, and catch fish, a mere 500 feet from the smokestacks. Ms.

Yvonne White, President of the Michigan State Conference of NAACP speaks

about the power plant and the surrounding area.

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Anthony F. Earley Jr.
• Michigan and coal
• United States and coal
• Global warming

References

1. ↑ ^1.0^ ^1.1^ DTE Energy Co., BusinessWeek Company Insight Center, accessed July 2008.
2. ↑ CEO Compensation: #290 Anthony F Earley Jr, Forbes.com, May 3, 2007.
3. ↑ ^3.0^ ^3.1^ Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.
4. ↑ Kathleen Gray, "DTE Energy asks for $253M rate increase" Detroit Free Press freep.com, Oct. 30, 2010.
5. ↑ Environmental Integrity Project, Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants, July 2007.
6. ↑ Dig Deeper, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.
7. ↑ ^7.0^ ^7.1^ ^7.2^ Eartha Jane Meizer, "DTE Energy gets coal plant permit on eve of new regulations" The Michigan Messenger, Dec. 23, 2010.
8. ↑ "America's Biggest Polluters: Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants in 2007" Environment America, November 24, 2009
9. ↑ Sue Sturgis, "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?," Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009.
10. ↑ "Scrubbers reducing emissions at coal-fired plant," Power Engineering, November 16, 2009.
11. ↑ Paul Egan, "EPA sues DTE Energy over coal-fired plant expansion" The Detroit News, August 5, 2010.
12. ↑ The Conversion, Mt. Poso Cogeneration Company website, accessed April 2009.
13. ↑ ^13.0^ ^13.1^ James Cartledge, "DTE to convert California coal plant to biomass fuel" BrighterEnergy.org, Nov. 9, 2010.
14. ↑ Jacqui Patterson, "Day III Clearing the Air Road Tour — River Rouge, MI — River Rouge Power Plant," NAACP Climate Justice Initiative, April 21, 2010.

External resources

External articles

• "DTE submits application for new nuclear plant," Associated Press, September 18, 2008.

Wikipedia also has an article on DTE Energy. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

Categories:

• Climate change
• Coal Issues
• Energy
• Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
• Corporations
• Power companies and agencies in the United States

gang of 8

DTE Energy, headquartered in Detroit, spent $3.6 million, including more than half a million dollars in the first quarter of this year. It also has hired two other lobbying firms — Bracy Tucker Brown & Valanzano and Bracewell and Giuliani, and has a PAC that has distributed $486,000 so far this election cycle, including to Upton, Michigan Republican Tim Walberg, and Michigan Democrat John D. Dingell, longtime member and former chairman of Energy and Commerce.

CONTRIBUTIONS

$4,953,782

since 1990

LOBBYING

$27,272,531

since 1998

Top Candidate Recipients, 2011-2012

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)	$55,950
John D. Dingell (D-MI)	$20,800
Fred Upton (R-MI)	$20,000
John Boehner (R-OH)	$16,000
Tim Walberg (R-MI)	$11,559

The total of contributions to candidates from DTE Energy PACs is 3 times larger than contributions from individuals

Contributions from Individuals

$111,310

Contributions from PACs

$376,500

LOBBYING: $1,450,000 (2012)

 ==

change. Michigan-based DTE Energy Company

(Figure 12, p. 30), for example, has been commendedfor its professional practices on climatechange disclosure and the company claimed to

be taking climate mitigation actions in its annual

report to the SEC. Meanwhile, DTE undermined

the scientific consensus on climate change in its

comments on the EPA Endangerment Finding.

The company claimed that the science of the

Endangerment Finding was “woefully incomplete”

and its conclusions were “impenetrably vague.”

Moreover, :{DTE has affiliations with several anticlimate-

science industry groups including the

American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the

Center for Energy and Economic Development,

and the National Association of Manufacturers}:

(Dunlap and McCright 2011; see Appendix C).

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