DTE Energy Responds To Plymouth Township Outage Issues

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, MI — DTE Energy appears to be living up to its word. Michigan was hit by a massive windstorm on March 8 that, at its peak, caused about 1.1 million power outages statewide. In Plymouth Township, approximately 3,200 outages were reported.

Shortly after the storm, Supervisor Kurt Heise asked residents to send him their input about specific power outage problems in neighborhoods, and in areas that frequently experience power outages. As a result, more than 100 emails, phone calls and letters were received detailing specific, repeated outages in the township, Heise said in a statement. He has since passed that information along to DTE, which is prepared to take action.

The Detroit-based utility company told Heise in a June 21 letter it will be making improvements to its infrastructure to provide better, more reliable electric service. Replacing electric substations that service Plymouth Township will be top among those fixes.

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“I’m happy to see that DTE is working with us to address these longstanding electric service issues,” Heise said in the statement. “I believe that by hearing our residents’ concerns, and working cooperatively, we can help ensure better electric reliability when the next storm hits.”

Other DTE Energy work will include:

• Installing new equipment that allows DTE to isolate damage and re-route power around trouble spots. This reduces the number of customers impacted by outages and shortens the length of the outages that do occur. They are also upgrading pole top equipment to strengthen the system and prevent outages.
• Tree Trimming – DTE is trimming trees along power lines. While residents may not see trees being trimmed directly at your location, their crews are working in the most critical areas to improve reliability.

DTE’s goal is to have the projects completed by September 2017, Heise said. At the time, the company recognized issues facing residents in Plymouth Township.

“DTE Energy welcomes the feedback from the residents of Plymouth Township regarding the power outages that stemmed from the historic March 8 wind storm, which impacted 800,000 customers across Southeast Michigan,” said DTE Communications Manager Randi Berris. “DTE recognizes how difficult it was for our customers who experienced a prolonged power outage following the weather event, and our crews worked tirelessly around the clock to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. We thank customers for their patience and understanding during this trying time.”

Photo courtesy of DTE Energy