"While DTE Energy's focus on cost reductions helped us achieve solid financial results this quarter, we continue to face significant challenges related to the weak economy," said Anthony F. Earley Jr., DTE Energy chairman and CEO. "We are experiencing significant electric utility sales declines that are even greater than our projections earlier this year. In addition to the sustainable savings from our continuous improvement projects, we have taken one-time actions to help offset the lower sales impacting our businesses.

"We will not, however, compromise on customer service or electric and gas service reliability," Earley added. "Maintenance at our power plants and our electric and gas distribution systems continues, and I'm happy to say that all of these facilities are performing better than ever. We will also continue to invest in projects that are creating needed jobs in our region and will ensure clean, reliable energy for our customers, and provide opportunities for earnings growth."

DTE Energy is sensitive to the difficulties being felt throughout our community and is pursuing various strategies to assist our customers and minimize future cost increases, including:

   --  Passing along PSCR savings to offset base electric rate increases   --  Offering a number of payment assistance programs to help customers       manage their energy bills and avoid service shut-offs   --  Helping customers apply for the Michigan Home Heating Credit   --  Helping customers work with outside agencies that may provide bill       payment help    --  Offering customers rebates and other incentives to make their homes       more efficient and help them reduce their energy costs   

Operating earnings for the second quarter 2009 were $92 million, or $0.56 per diluted share, compared with second quarter 2008 operating earnings of $26 million, or $0.16 per diluted share. Operating earnings increased primarily due to company-wide O&M cost reduction efforts and earnings at Energy Trading, partially offset by lower sales and cooler weather at Detroit Edison and lower commodity prices for Unconventional Gas. Operating earnings exclude non-recurring items, certain timing-related items and discontinued operations. Reconciliations of reported earnings to operating earnings are at the end of this news release.

Reported earnings for the first six months ended June 30, 2009, were $261 million or $1.59 per diluted share versus $240 million or $1.47 per diluted share in 2008. Year-to-date operating earnings were $270 million or $1.65 per diluted share, compared with $153 million or $0.93 per diluted share in 2008.

   Second quarter 2009 operating earnings results, by segment:    Utilities  

Electric Utility: Operating earnings for Detroit Edison were $0.50 per diluted share versus $0.31 in 2008. Lower expenses, primarily driven by continuous improvement initiatives, one-time cost reduction efforts and lower storm restoration expense, drove the increase in earnings. Partially offsetting these factors were lower sales due to the weak economy and cooler weather.

Gas Utility: MichCon had a seasonal operating loss of $0.09 per diluted share, compared with an operating loss of $0.07 per diluted share in 2008. Lower margins driven by customer conservation and higher lost gas, and higher depreciation and interest expenses were partially offset by cost reduction efforts.

Non-Utilities

Gas Midstream: Operating earnings were $0.06 per diluted share, equivalent to second quarter 2008 results.

Unconventional Gas Production: This segment had an operating loss of $0.01 per diluted share, down from second quarter 2008 operating earnings of $0.02 per diluted share. Lower gas and oil prices in 2009 were the primary drivers of this variance.

Power and Industrial Projects: This segment reported an operating loss of $0.01 per diluted share, an improvement over the second quarter 2008 loss of $0.04. The quarter-over-quarter variance is primarily due to the second quarter 2008 depreciation expense on assets that had been held for sale. Partially offsetting this benefit in 2009 was lower coke sales to the steel industry.

Energy Trading: Energy Trading had operating earnings of $0.16 per diluted share versus a loss of $0.07 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2008. This increase was primarily due to mark-to-market accounting timing and favorable taxes.

Corporate and Other: The Corporate and Other segment had an operating loss of $0.05 per diluted share equal to the loss of $0.05 in the second quarter of 2008.

Outlook for 2009

"DTE Energy's continuous improvement mindset, coupled with additional one-time cost savings, is keeping us on track to meet our 2009 operating earnings guidance of $2.75 to $3.05 per diluted share," said David E. Meador, DTE Energy executive vice president and chief financial officer. "While we expect continued pressure from the sharp sales decline in our state, we are confident that our continued focus on cost savings and operational excellence will enable us to meet our goals in 2009, and will position us for long-term growth."

Conference call and webcast information

This earnings announcement, as well as a package of slides and supplemental information, is available at http://www.dteenergy.com/.

DTE Energy plans to conduct a conference call with the investment community hosted by Meador at 8:30 a.m. EDT Friday, July 31, to discuss second quarter earnings results. Investors, the news media and the public may listen to a live internet broadcast of the meeting at http://www.dteenergy.com/. The telephone dial-in numbers are (888) 298-3511 or (719) 325-2383. There is no passcode. The internet broadcast will be archived on the company's website. An audio replay of the call will be available from 11 a.m. July 31 to Aug. 14. To access the replay, dial (888) 203-1112 or (719) 457-0820 and enter passcode 1517416.

DTE Energy is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.2 million customers in Michigan and other non-utility, energy businesses focused on gas pipelines and storage, coal transportation, unconventional gas production, and power and industrial projects. Information about DTE Energy is available at dteenergy.com.

Use of Operating Earnings Information - In this release, DTE Energy discusses 2009 operating earnings guidance. It is likely that certain items that impact the company's 2009 reported results will be excluded from operating results. Reconciliations to the comparable 2009 reported earnings guidance is not provided because it is not possible to provide a reliable forecast of specific line items. These items may fluctuate significantly from period to period and may have a significant impact on reported earnings.

DTE Energy management believes that operating earnings provide a more meaningful representation of the company's earnings from ongoing operations and uses operating earnings as the primary performance measurement for external communications with analysts and investors. Internally, DTE Energy uses operating earnings to measure performance against budget and to report to the Board of Directors.

The information contained herein is as of the date of this release. DTE Energy expressly disclaims any current intention to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or future events or developments. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "projected" and "goals" signify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and conditions but rather are subject to various assumptions, risks and uncertainties. This release contains forward-looking statements about DTE Energy's financial results and estimates of future prospects, and actual results may differ materially.