DOWNRIVER, Mich. – Some Downriver neighborhoods were still dealing with partial or recurring outages Tuesday evening, days after severe storms last week knocked out power for hundreds of thousands across Metro Detroit.
DTE said the severe weather caused widespread damage, leaving nearly 400,000 customers without power.
The utility said it has restored power to more than 99% of those impacted, but in some locations, crews have found additional damage when responding to outages, causing further delays.
DTE added that its teams will keep working until every customer is restored.
In Allen Park, Shawn Brendel said his home had only partial power for more than 48 hours as of Tuesday evening.
Brendel said he lost power completely during the storms, briefly got it back Sunday afternoon, and then lost it again, leaving electricity in only some rooms.
“Zero power in my bathroom, no power in our daughter’s room, but oddly, in the junk room, we have power,” Brendel said, adding that he removed his thermostat after it was malfunctioning.
Brendel said he received multiple text messages from DTE stating that his power had been restored, even though it had not.
“I laughed. I literally laughed because I was like, ‘This is the third text you’ve sent us saying we have power.’ What’s going on?” Brendel said.
Brendel said he was offered a $42-per-day outage credit and was told to check with his homeowners’ insurance for reimbursement for spoiled food.
“I have animals, so my animals have been suffering through the heat. My husband is actually on a CPAP machine, so he hasn’t been able to use his medical device because of the situation,” Brendel said.
Shortly after our interview, Brendel’s power was restored.
A similar situation played out in Gibraltar, where resident Beth Marple said her electricity went out Friday, returned Monday evening, then shut off again Tuesday before coming back on again Tuesday night.
After hours without air conditioning, the thermostat in her home read 84 degrees.
“I said this is crazy. I shouldn’t have to pay my bill for this,” Marple said.
Marple said she’ll have to throw out hundreds of dollars’ worth of food from her refrigerator and freezer.
“I got to throw it all away. It’s sad,” Marple said.
DTE said it understands extended outages are frustrating and apologized for the disruption.
The company acknowledged that prolonged outages can create added challenges for customers and said it is working with community partners to provide assistance where available.
DTE said outage credits are available to eligible customers and are automatically applied; customers do not need to take any action to receive them.
DTE’s eligibility requirements are available here.