LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Attorney General Dana Nessel isn’t letting DTE Energy flip the switch on a billion-dollar data center deal without letting the public in the room.

Nessel filed an intervention on November 6, urging the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to treat DTE’s request as a full contested case. She warned that families could be left paying for a data center “that never comes to fruition or uses far less electricity than projected.”

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DTE’s proposal—backed by an Oracle subsidiary and sized to consume the electricity of more than a million households—was submitted ex parte, a fast-track process that skips public notice, discovery, and testimony. Nessel called that unacceptable for a project this massive.

“A public hearing is the only way to ensure transparency,” she said, arguing the utility must prove that costs won’t be shifted onto customers if the project stalls or shrinks.

The MPSC has already balked at approving data-center deals behind closed doors. Earlier this year, commissioners rejected a similar request from Consumers Energy, noting that large tech loads carry “unique and significant cost implications” and require a full “evidentiary record.”