ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Outlier Media is a Detroit-based service journalism organization. Do you need help finding resources or information in Detroit? Use Outlier’s text-message-based info service by texting DETROIT to 67485.
Many Detroiters can’t afford to pay their electric bills.
In 2020, DTE Energy shut off 80,606 electric accounts for nonpayment. This happened even in the hottest and coldest months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are looking into DTE because without electricity, people suffer. In contrast to DTE, the city of Detroit agreed to halt water shutoffs until the end of 2022 to help people make it through the pandemic.
If you use DTE or Consumers Energy for electricity, reporters at Outlier Media and ProPublica need to hear from you: Have debt collectors called you because of an electric bill? If your electricity was shut off, how long were you left in the dark? Do you have shut-off notices you can share?
We want to hear from customers who have had issues with their electric bill both during the pandemic and before 2020. If you need help filling out this form or want to share over the phone, please call: 313-643-5508.
