Massive Windstorm Sparks Quest For Answers In Plymouth Township

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, MI — Plymouth Township Supervisor Kurt Heise is asking residents for their input about specific power outage problems in neighborhoods, and in areas that frequently experience power outages.

During the recent windstorm, more than 3,200 township homes and business were without power, in some cases for several days, Heise said. He plans to share feedback from with DTE for further investigation by its field staff.

“During the storm, we received many complaints from residents without power while people a few blocks over had power; we were also told of entire neighborhoods who consistently lose power,” Heise said in a statement. “Taxpayers and ratepayers deserve to know what is causing these problems and what can be done to correct them.”

At its peak, the the windstorm caused approximately 1.1 million power outages statewide, with the bulk coming in southeast Michigan. Final restoration took as long as a week for some residential customers serviced by DTE and Consumers Energy.

“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.”

Heise said he’s looking to drill down to small areas in the township that lost power, “like a single block or a small group of homes.” The supervisor knows that power companies worked hard to restore power, but thinks being proactive may help residents and the company respond better when the next big storm comes along.

“We admire and respect the men and women of DTE Energy who worked tirelessly to restore power in this recent storm,” said Heise. “We now want to help them improve our power grid to ensure better service in the future.”

Berris said her company is all ears.

“We look forward to working with the Plymouth Township supervisor and the residents to improve electric reliability,” she commented. “While we cannot control extreme weather, we are hardening our infrastructure to help reduce the likelihood of what happened on March 8 from occurring again. We also are continuing our enhanced tree trimming across our service territory, and will be trimming trees along sub-transmission lines in Plymouth Township this year.”

Berris said about 80 percent of power outages in the windstorm were caused by downed trees.

“That’s one reason why customers on one block may have had power, when the next block over was without power for several days,” she commented. “We are committed to delivering the reliability and peace of mind that our customers expect - and to build an electric grid that meets the needs of the 21st century economy.”

Heise encourages residents to contact him via email at supervisor@plymouthtwp.org or by leaving a message on the ‘Plymouth Township’ Facebook page. Residents may also call Heise’s office at 734-354-3201 or mail Township Hall at 9955 N. Haggerty.

Image by Chris via Flickr Commons