DTE struggles to restore power to Plymouth Township
Aug. 6, 2022 PLYMOUTH VOICE.
Plymouth Michigan News
Three days after a rain and wind storm hit the Plymouth area electrical linemen are still working in Lake Pointe.
Powerful winds in excess of 60 mph blew across the metro Detroit area on Wednesday afternoon causing widely scattered power outages. Hardest hit were the Plymouth and Plymouth Township area residents and businesses, namely the township’s largest subdivision, Lake Pointe, with some 800 homes. Traffic lights were out at Main and Church Street in downtown Plymouth and many businesses were forced to close.
At the onset, DTE reported 27,369 customers without power and 275 crews in the field ready to work.
On Tuesday, DTE published an email warning of the impending storm urging customers to help crews restore power faster by reporting down power lines using the DTE Energy Outage Center App.
“Our crews are prepared for power outages-are you…The quicker you report a power outage, the faster crews can come to your area to begin work…,” read the brief message.
Just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, heavy pounding rain and prevailing sheer force winds knocked down tree branches and damaged one of Lake Pointe’s main line utility poles in its aging infrastructure on Five Mile Road near Maxwell. The wind force broke off the top eight feet of the wood pole estimated to be over 60-years-old. An Electric Power Research Institute study reports most utilities assume wood poles provide 30-40 years of service life. Authorities say ageing wood poles are at potential risk of failing usually because of hidden dry rot, not wind shear.
By 9 p.m. Michigan State Police reported area freeways were flooding from the heavy rain, nearly 2-inches in some areas. By midnight the rain turned to showers.
Service was restored to the majority of Lake Pointe customers Friday evening by 8 p.m. However, by mid-day Saturday DTE crews were reportedly still working to reconnect service and repair entrance cables that were torn from homes and poles by falling tree branches.
Later, restored customers in the service area were sent an email survey inquiring their satisfaction with the recent restoration experience.
Field representatives working in the area said damage to service in Lake Pointe was “Not that bad, at all.”
Supervisor threatens legal action against DTE – as outages continue
Plymouth Voice.
