DETROIT (WXYZ) — As of 9:45 p.m. Monday, 48,977 DTE customers were without power, according to the DTE outage map.
DTE says more than 4,000 crews are currently in the field and the vast majority of customers have been restored, but another 65,000 customers lost power since Friday, including another 10,000 customers who lost power Monday. The company has over 1 million poles and 45,000 miles of power lines.
It’s been a cold, wet and dark weekend for residents along Fenmore Street on Detroit’s west side, waking up Monday still without power
“I've been disability for 12 years. I can't stay in a house like that,” Detroit resident Keith Rucker said.
Rucker says his power went out Thursday night. Since then, he and his neighbors have been braving the cold.
“I can't go to a hotel. I got no money for that," Rucker said. "That’s not right for a paying customer.”
Rucker's neighbor Rich Robson says he paid $300 on hotel rooms for his mother as they waited for power to be restored.
“We did (brave the cold) the first night, we did the second night, but she’s a Type 2 (diabetic), so I put her in a hotel,” Robson said.
"Did the power stay off longer than you thought it was going to," 7 Action News reporter Brett Kast asked.
"Yeah," Robson responded. "They told us Saturday then Sunday, then it was today.”
Power along the street came back around 6 p.m. Monday, but thousands more still waited on their restoration. In the meantime, DTE says customers who went 96 hours — four days — or more without power will get an automatic $35 credit.
"How much is a carton of eggs? What is that going to do,” Robson said.
"I got more than $35 worth of food I had to throw away, so I don't know about $35,” Rucker said.
The company says the credit, normally $25, will be automatic for this storm only. The Michigan Public Service Commission says they’ve been working to make a $35 automatic payment a requirement.
“It's still not a freezer full of food, it’s still not a hotel stay, I understand that, but it’s still an important step in the right direction,” MPSC Chair Dan Scripps said.
The commission says in the future, improvements on the grid need to be made. DTE says it’s invested $1 billion in improvements over the last year, however, the ice storm was historic, the worst in 50 years, the energy company said.
"In just the last couple years, we've seen the most extreme weather that I've seen in my 20-year career,” said Ryan Stowe, vice president of Distribution Operations at DTE. “We know this is a real challenge for anyone who's been out of power this long and were going to continue working until everyone's power is restored."
