DETROIT (WXYZ) — In an email sent to 7 Action News early Saturday morning, DTE's Storm Response Team confirms power has been restored for approximately 80% of the 23,300 DTE customers who were impacted by the winter storm.
As of 8:40 a.m. Saturday, 5,120 remain without power.
DTE Energy said it has deployed more than 1,700 employees and support teams who will continue to work throughout the holiday weekend to restore power for customers who remain without power. The majority, DTE said will be restored by Saturday evening.
“I want to thank our customers for their patience as our crews work to restore their power in treacherous conditions,” said Trevor Lauer, president and COO, DTE Electric. “There’s never a good time to be without power, it’s even more challenging over a holiday. We’ll be working as long as it takes to restore power for every one of our impacted customers.”
DTE’s electric infrastructure endured significant battering from the winter storm beginning late Thursday into Friday evening.
"The weather system packed 13 consecutive hours of 45+ mile-per-hour winds, with three hours of winds greater than 50 miles-per-hour. Such powerful, unrelenting gusts would have caused significantly more damage had it not been for DTE’s ongoing work to upgrade its electric infrastructure to help combat extreme weather-related power outages," DTE Energy said in the email.
DTE Energy wants to remind customers of the following:
- NEVER use a portable generator inside a home or business. It emits carbon monoxide, which can be deadly. Keep it outside, away from windows and doors, so the fumes won’t come in.
- NEVER use a gas stove or oven to heat your home.
- Downed power lines may be hidden by snow and debris, so be careful as you head outside. Stay at least one bus length (20 feet) away from downed power lines and don’t touch anything they may be in contact with – always consider them live and dangerous.
- Report all downed wires using the DTE Energy Mobile app, on outage.dteenergy.com or by calling DTE at 800.477.4747. Report all emergencies to 9-1-1.
- Everyone should also heed the warning of yellow caution tape, which indicates there is a downed power line in the area. DO NOT CROSS YELLOW CAUTION TAPE.
