DTE Energy’s Gas Utility Spends $580 Million As Nine-Month Profit Barely Changes
DTE Gas narrowed its quarterly loss, while Michigan regulators approved $149 million in additional annual revenue.
DTE Energy, a Michigan-based electricity and natural gas utility company, reported $580 million in plant and equipment spending at its gas subsidiary for the first nine months of 2026, against $437 million a year earlier, while that business’s profit barely changed. The unaudited results accompanying Friday’s SEC filing put DTE Gas’s nine-month net income at $176 million, versus $175 million.
Spending Outruns Operating Cash
DTE Gas’s infrastructure bill exceeded the cash its operations generated during the first nine months. Operating cash totaled $508 million, compared with $513 million in the same period of 2025.
The subsidiary expects approximately $900 million in capital spending for 2026. In September, it issued $300 million of mortgage bonds, with proceeds designated for capital spending, repayment of short-term borrowings and other corporate uses. Nine-month dividends paid to its shareholder totaled $169 million, versus $166 million a year earlier.
DTE Gas serves approximately 1.4 million customers across Michigan, buying, storing and delivering natural gas as well as selling storage and transportation capacity. The gas utility is wholly owned indirectly by DTE Energy; these figures describe the subsidiary, rather than the parent’s combined businesses.
A Smaller Loss, Higher Interest
The gas utility’s third-quarter net loss narrowed to $29 million from $36 million a year earlier. Revenue reached $211 million, compared with $207 million, while the loss from operations—before interest and other non-operating items—shrank to $5 million from $23 million.
Quarterly operating expenses fell to $216 million from $230 million. Interest expense moved the other way, reaching $35 million against $33 million a year earlier.
For the first nine months, revenue totaled $1.445 billion, versus $1.388 billion, and operating income reached $323 million, compared with $309 million. Interest expense for that period rose to $105 million from $97 million.
Costs associated with accounts the company expects not to collect also increased. Uncollectible-account expense totaled $33 million over the first nine months, compared with $24 million a year earlier; the third-quarter amounts were $5 million and $1 million, respectively.
Higher Rates Start After September
Michigan regulators approved a $149 million increase in annual revenue on September 10, 2026, covering service from October 1, 2026. The effective date falls outside the third-quarter results reported Friday.
DTE Gas’s November 13, 2025 application sought a $163 million net increase in base rates, citing infrastructure investment and rising operating and maintenance costs. It also requested a permitted return on shareholder equity of 10.25%, up from 9.8%; regulators approved 9.8%.
DTE Gas enters the fourth quarter with the higher customer rates in effect and approximately $900 million in expected full-year capital spending.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — DTE ENERGY CO (DTE) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit dtegas-exhibit991x093026.htm — DTE ENERGY CO 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- DTE Energy ups five-year utility investment plan to $44bn, cites data center demand - DCD — datacenterdynamics.com
