DTE Energy Sells DTE Vantage for $2.97B as Google Data Center Deal Advances

DTE Energy agreed on Nov. 1, 2026 to sell its non-utility DTE Vantage business to Velocity BidCo LLC for $2,970,672,573, the company disclosed in an 8-K filing with the SEC on Nov. 5. The buyer is owned by institutional investors advised by the Global Infrastructure group at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

DTE announced the sale alongside its third-quarter results in a release on PR Newswire. The company said Vantage is made up mainly of renewable energy projects that sell electricity and pipeline-quality gas, plus projects that deliver custom energy solutions to industrial, commercial and institutional customers. The sale excludes EES Coke. The price is subject to adjustments for cash, debt, working capital, capital expenditures and transaction costs at closing, the filing says.

Third-quarter numbers and the utility plan

DTE reported third-quarter earnings of $470 million, or $2.25 per diluted share, against $419 million, or $2.01, a year earlier. Operating earnings were $481 million, or $2.30 per share, compared with $468 million, or $2.25, in 2025. RTTNews, which also covered the results, reported the same figures.

The company confirmed 2026 operating earnings guidance of $7.59 to $7.73 per share and set a 2027 pro forma baseline of the same range that reflects the Vantage sale. It plans about $44 billion of customer-focused utility capital over the next five years, with about $4.1 billion invested through the third quarter and $6.1 billion planned for 2026. By Voltgrid's arithmetic, the sale price equals roughly 7% of that five-year plan. Neither the release nor the filing says how the proceeds will be deployed.

What the release says about data centers

The Michigan Public Service Commission approved DTE's energy contracts with Google for a planned data center in Van Buren Township, the release says. DTE said it is moving forward to serve two hyperscale data center customers in Michigan and that data centers will cover the full cost of the energy and grid investments needed to serve them, contributing billions of dollars to the electric system through 2045.

The release gives no gigawatt figure for that load, so the size has to come from the regulatory record. As Voltgrid reported, the Google site is a 1-gigawatt campus under 20-year contracts, and DTE told the commission it would start taking service in December 2027 and reach maximum load by December 2028. Michigan's attorney general has asked the commission to rehear that approval, and that petition is still pending.

DTE Electric also filed a 20-year generation plan with the commission. It combines renewables, energy storage, nuclear and natural gas, keeps the commitment to end coal use in 2032, and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 84%, the company said. DTE put its cost at $3.5 billion less than the previous plan.

Closing date and what is not settled

The closing timeline differs between documents. The release points to the first half of 2027, while the 8-K says closing may not occur before Dec. 31, 2026 and is expected in mid-2027. A footnote to the 2027 baseline assumes closing by the end of 2026 and warns that it may change with closing timing.

Closing needs Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust clearance, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorization under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act, Canadian competition clearance and a New York Public Service Law ruling. The buyer's obligation has no financing condition. Either side can terminate if the deal has not closed by Aug. 1, 2027, with a 90-day extension if only regulatory approvals remain. In certain termination cases the buyer would owe DTE a $148,533,628.65 fee.

For power planners, the sale narrows DTE to its regulated electric and gas utilities. That is where the Google and second hyperscale load will be served and where the generation plan will be decided. The commission has not ruled on the plan, and the release does not name the second customer.