DTE Energy is warning state regulators that any delay in approving its fast-tracked special-contract request could derail the massive OpenAI–Oracle data center project planned for southeast Michigan, according to a filing submitted to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).

In a response filed November 26, DTE told commissioners that its proposed Primary Supply Agreement (PSA) and Energy Storage Agreement (ESA) with Green Chile Ventures LLC — an Oracle affiliate supporting OpenAI’s expansion — must be approved no later than December 5, or the customer may legally walk away from the project. The company said it must also lock in procurement for required storage resources before year-end to meet the customer’s aggressive ramp-up schedule.

“Beyond this date, the Customer has the option to terminate the agreement with 30 days’ notice,” DTE wrote, adding that a contested case would prevent the company from meeting engineering, procurement and construction deadlines tied to the 1.4 GW load forecast for the first year of operations. The utility said delays would “jeopardize the ability of the Customer and the Company to meet contract deadlines and in turn risk termination of the agreement.”

The warning comes amid calls from environmental groups, consumer advocates and industrial customers to convert the case into a full contested proceeding. Those groups argue that the project’s unprecedented size — 1.4 GW of new peak load — warrants deeper scrutiny of renewable-resource impacts, storage procurement, cost-allocation methodology and long-term planning. DTE countered that such concerns belong in future integrated resource plans and renewable-portfolio cases, not in a narrow approval request covering a single customer’s contract terms.

DTE said it has demonstrated through detailed testimony that the special contracts will not increase costs for other customers, pointing to credit-support requirements, minimum-billing provisions, and termination-payment protections exceeding standards set by the commission in a separate Consumers Energy case earlier this month. The filing reiterates that Oracle, the parent guarantor, is responsible for all incremental storage investments needed to serve the new load — and that the ESA ensures “no energy storage portfolio costs will be passed to other customer classes.”

In its submission, DTE stressed that the MPSC’s recent order in a case involving Consumers Energy Company on large-load service explicitly anticipates ex parte approval of special contracts for individual customers when cost-of-service protections are in place. It argued that opponents “merely speculate” about hypothetical future impacts and no legal basis for overriding the plain language of state law, which allows expedited approval absent a demonstrated cost increase.