DTE Electric Company (formerly The Detroit Edison Company) was founded in 1886.
DTE Electric's power generation portfolio includes
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
, but is primarily generated by
fossil fuels
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...
. In 2021, 67.32% of electricity generated by DTE came from coal, gas, and oil. The regional average fossil fuel mix was 62.84%. As of 2021, DTE's emission levels of Carbon Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, and High-Level nuclear waste are higher than regional averages.
History
![Detroit Edison Company 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Detroit_Edison_Company_1917.jpg)
Detroit Edison was part of a large holding company called
North American Edison Company. North American's stock had once been one of the twelve component stocks of the May 1896 original
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.
The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...
.
[Jeremy J. Siegel, '']Stocks for the Long Run
''Stocks for the Long Run'' is a book on investing by Jeremy Siegel. Its first edition was released in 1994. Its fifth edition was released on January 7, 2014. According to Pablo Galarza of ''Money'', "His 1994 book ''Stocks for the Long Run'' se ...
'', McGraw-Hill, Second Edition, 1998, North American Company was broken up by the
Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
, following the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
decision of April 1, 1946.
[ FindLaw.com]
After that, Detroit Edison operated independently, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DTE through the mid-1990s. In early 1996, it became an operating subsidiary of the new holding company,
DTE Energy Company
DTE Energy (formerly Detroit Edison until 1996) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services in the United States and Canada. Its operating units include an ele ...
, which replaced Detroit Edison Company on the stock exchange, and took over the trading ticker symbol.
[Standard & Poor's Stock Guide, April 1996]
Power generation
Fossil Generation
Fossil Fuel Plants
Current operating DTE Energy's coal and natural gas power plants:
In 2016, DTE Energy announced the retirement of three coal-fired generating units among its plants by 2023. The plants are located in
River Rouge, St. Clair in
East China Township and
Trenton. In sum, the plants power around 900,000 homes. The ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'' wrote that employees at the closing plants will be able to transfer to other facilities and will not lose their jobs.
River Rouge Power Plant's retirement was expedited to 2021 with its last megawatt produced on May 31, 2021 and formally retired on June 4, 2021.
Trenton Channel Power Plant
The Trenton Channel Power Plant, also known as the Trenton Stacks, was a coal-burning power station located in Trenton, Michigan. Completed in 1924, it is owned by Detroit Edison, a subsidiary of DTE Energy.
Location
Part of the facility's prop ...
and
St. Clair Power Plant
The Saint Clair Power Plant was a major coal- and oil-fired power plant owned by DTE Electric, a subsidiary of DTE Energy. It was located in St. Clair County, Michigan, on the west bank of St. Clair River. The plant was across M-29 from th ...
retired in 2022, replaced by renewable energy projects.
Many of DTE Energy's coal plants were built in the 1950s and 1960s and "are nearing retirement age."
Blue Water Energy Center
In 2018, the
Michigan Public Service Commission
The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) is a regulatory agency which regulates public utilities in the state of Michigan, including electric power, telecommunications, and natural gas services. The MPSC's headquarters are located in Lansing, ...
approved Blue Water Energy Center, a natural gas combined-cycle plan. This will replace three retiring coal plants, reducing carbon emissions by 70 percent, and provide power to 850,000 homes.
Blue Water Energy Center began commercial operation on June 6, 2022.
Nuclear
DTE currently operates one nuclear plant,
Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station
The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Monroe, in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan on approximately . All units of the plant are operated by the DTE Energy Electric Company and own ...
, generating 21% of DTE Electric's power.
Renewable
Since 2009, DTE has driven investment of $2.8 billion in renewable energy assets, increasing to $4.8 billion by 2024.
Since April 2021, DTE Electric operates 18 wind and 31 solar parks, totaling 1,760 megawatts of clean energy, powering 670,000 homes.
Wind
DTE currently has 18 operational wind parks in their portfolio.
As the state’s largest investor in and producer of wind energy, DTE produces enough energy from renewable sources to power more than 500,000 homes.
Solar
DTE currently operates 31 solar parks in Michigan.
In May 2016, the company broke ground on a
solar array
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and co ...
project in
Lapeer, Michigan
Lapeer ( ') is a City (Michigan), city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lapeer County. As of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, the city population was 8,841. Most of the city was incorporat ...
touted as the largest utility-owned solar array east of the Mississippi River. Lapeer Solar Park generates enough electricity to power 9,000 homes. DTE Energy also operates a 10-acre solar installation in Detroit on the site of the abandoned O'Shea Park.
Hydro
DTE and
Consumers Energy
Consumers Energy is an investor owned utility that provides natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of Michigan's 10 million residents. It serves customers in all 68 of the state's Lower Peninsula counties. It is the primary subsidiary of CMS ...
co-own the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant on Lake Michigan in
Mason County, Michigan
Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 29,052. The county seat is Ludington.
Mason County comprises the Ludington, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The county is ...
.
Landfill-based gas-to-energy operations
In May 2017, DTE Energy announced it had acquired "two landfill-based gas-to-energy operations" in Texas. The company wants to expand its operations to alternative vehicle fuel. The operations it acquired were the Fort Bend Power Producers, LLC facility outside of Rosenberg, Texas and the Seabreaze
landfill gas
Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, ...
development in Angleton, Texas, which has yet to be developed.
After these projects are operational, the company will have five "landfill conversion facilities which capture and convert dangerous landfill gases to pipeline-quality renewable natural gas". The gases will go to fueling transit buses.
Electric cars
In July 2018, DTE Energy filed a proposal to invest $13 million into an electric car charging program. The program would upgrade transformers and also include service drops, materials, hardware, new meters and other costs. The program is called Charging Forward program and would also provide consumers rebates.
Energy transmission
As a condition of electric utility
deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
in Michigan, DTE Energy was forced to sell off Detroit Edison's sister subsidiary involved in high-voltage energy transmission: International Transmission Co. (ITC).
Energy distribution
Detroit Edison's near 11-gigawatt generating capacity is offered to its service area, which encompasses 13 counties in the southeastern portion of the
lower peninsula
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...
. Energy is distributed via one million utility poles and of power lines in these Michigan counties: Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac, Saint Clair, Lapeer, Livingston, Ingham, Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, Washtenaw, Lenawee, and Monroe.
Detroit Edison's
distribution line voltages are
three-phase
Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3φ) is a common type of alternating current used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system empl ...
4,800 volts (Delta) 4,800/8,320 volts (wye) and 7,620/13,200 volts (Wye) . All new distribution circuits constructed after 1959 are 13,200 volts. The 8,320 volt distribution lines are located in
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit.
Founde ...
in an area that was served by
Consumers Power Company
Consumers Energy is an investor owned utility that provides natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of Michigan's 10 million residents. It serves customers in all 68 of the state's Lower Peninsula counties. It is the primary subsidiary of CM ...
until the mid-1980s when the area was acquired by Detroit Edison. Edison's subtransmission line voltages are 24,000 volts and 41,600 volts.
DTE Rail Service Inc.
With the bankruptcy of the
Penn Central Transportation
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central Railroad ...
railroad in 1970, Detroit Edison sought to continue transporting coal from the
Monongahela mines in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
to a brand new power plant in
Monroe, Michigan
Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomo ...
. However, the bankruptcy of Penn Central left Detroit Edison short of motive power and under capacitated coal hoppers. Detroit Edison then chose to purchase brand new locomotives and coal cars to fit their needs. Purchasing
EMD SD40
The EMD SD40 is an American 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and August 1972. 1,268 locomotives were built between 1966 and 1972. In 1972, an improved version with new electroni ...
's and
GE U30C
The GE U30C is a six-axle locomotive built by General Electric from 1966 to 1976. With 600 units sold, the U30C proved to be a viable alternative for customers who were unable to purchase SD40s from Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) due to production bac ...
's for mainline motive power as well as High-Side Articulated Gondolas (with a capacity of 185,000 pounds), this new equipment allowed Detroit Edison to move more coal ''en masse'' than what Penn Central was able to do with their equipment. The trains were maintained by Detroit Edison officials but operated by Penn Central crews.
By the late 1980s or early 1990, Detroit Edison discontinued use of their equipment, as
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
began to supply enough locomotives and rolling stock to meet the power company's needs.
References
Detroit Edison Railroad Roster
Detroit Edison Railroad Information
External links
*
*{{HAER , survey=MI-25 , id=mi0195 , title=Detroit Edison Hart Substation, 11736 East Vernor, Detroit, MI , photos=22 , data=14 , cap=3
DTE Energy, *
Electric power companies of the United States
Energy in Michigan
Historic American Engineering Record in Michigan
Hydroelectric power companies of the United States
Nuclear power companies of the United States
Companies based in Detroit
Energy companies established in 1903
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1903
1903 establishments in Michigan