DTE Michigan gas plants and carbon capture: regulators weigh a $6.4B bet on unproven CCS

Michigan utility DTE Electric has filed a 20-year plan that would add 2.1 GW of new gas-fired generation in the Detroit area and install carbon capture on those plants by 2035 to meet the state's 2040 clean energy mandate. The plan also calls for closing the 3 GW Monroe coal plant, adding 15 GW of renewables and 4.5 GW of storage, and serving new data center load from contracts with Oracle and Google. Critics say the plan relies on carbon capture and sequestration that has not worked at utility scale in the US, citing the troubled Petra Nova project and S&P Global's warning that CCS remains early stage. DTE estimates the gas plants alone will cost $6.4 billion, and the capture infrastructure and CO2 pipelines could push that higher. Michigan regulators will decide over the next year whether to approve the plan, and environmental groups want the cost and compliance risk evaluated before any ratepayer money is committed.