By Summer Ballentine and Carol Thompson, MediaNews Group

DTE Energy Co. is asking Michigan regulators to bypass public hearings and fast-track approval of a new data center planned for farmland outside Ann Arbor while citing potential of cost cuts to utilities for residential households.

In a filing Monday, the utility company outlined how the proposed data center — backed by a real estate development company tied to billionaire megadonor Stephen Ross’ Related Companies and tech companies Oracle and ChatGPT maker OpenAI — would reduce costs despite using as much energy as is needed to power more than 1 million average American homes.

Exactly how much households could save is unclear, in part, because DTE cannot lower utility rates without going through the Michigan Public Service Co

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