DETROIT – A brutal stretch of hot weather is pushing DTE Energy’s power grid to its limits across southeast Michigan, and for hundreds of Detroit residents, it already hit home overnight.
Customers near 7 Mile Road and Schaefer Highway on Detroit’s west side lost power in the middle of the night, with DTE’s outage map citing “high electricity demand” and “equipment problem” as the cause.
By 11:30 p.m., more than 200 homes were without power.
Waiting in the heat
Detroit resident Ralph Donaldson spent hours waiting for power to return. At one point, the temperature inside his home climbed to 84 degrees.
“On a good day in winter, we would be excited to be in there, but today the dog is laying on the tile in the kitchen. Everybody wants to stay cool,” said Donaldson.
When the power finally kicked back on, homeowners like Donaldson were relieved.
“Oof. How bout that? Somebody give God some praise,” Donaldson said.
What caused the outage
DTE Energy confirmed the outage was caused by equipment damage resulting from increased strain from high energy use during the heat.
Jerry Tullio, DTE Energy’s director of operations, said the company has been preparing its grid throughout the year.
“Over the spring and summer, we have been investing in multiple pockets throughout our entire service territory, and we are ready to go,” Tullio said.
But Tullio cautioned that extreme heat naturally strains the infrastructure.
“Just like your home or your air conditioning, when it gets this hot, the grid gets strained, but we have people here at the system operations center monitoring it. We are going to be rerouting power as necessary, and we have crews in the field also standing by in case they are needed,” said Tullio.
How to help ease the strain
Residents can take several steps to reduce pressure on the grid during a heat wave:
- Close blinds or curtains to keep heat out
- Close doors and registers in rooms that aren’t being used
- Set the thermostat higher when away from home
- Run large appliances, like washing machines, during off-peak hours