(WXYZ) — As a mom to six children and grandma to 27, Cynthia Page has developed a habit. She buys in bulk to feed her family. When she lost power just before 5 Thursday, she bought dry ice to keep her three freezers cold. Now she says the stores are out.
“There is a standing rib roast. That is $150 by itself,” she says, as she worries about what she will lose. “They promised by noon the lights would be on. And then I get a text, sorry your lights won’t be on until March 1. Get out of here.”
She is beyond frustrated. She says she wants three things from DTE.
- Better communication so people can plan.
- Compensation for her losses, from spoiled food to gas to run her vehicle to power her lights.
- Stronger infrastructure.
“It's disgraceful,” said Cynthia. “For the money they get and we still have to suffer. You want us to pay our bills, but you aren’t providing the service.”
The Citizens Utility Board Published a report in 2021 grading utility services in each state and Washington D.C. It found Michigan ranked near the bottom - at 46 due in large part to poor reliability.
“We are always going to struggle with a 1 in 50-year ice storm and that is what this was. But we shouldn’t still be out with this many people out 5 days later,” said Dan Scripps, Chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission.
The Michigan Public Service Commission says this may have been a historic storm, but that is no excuse. As climate change brings more regular severe weather in Michigan power companies need to strengthen the grid.
Scripps says the commission wants to see operational and infrastructure improvements.
“We know it is not good enough,” said Ryan Stowe, Vice President at DTE Electric. “Especially as we get the increasing severity of weather. Here, in just the last couple years, we have seen some of the most extreme weather that we have seen in my 20-year career. We have to continue to harden the grid, make it more resilient. That is going to take investment and is investment we want to make.”
DTE is making progress.
By chance as we wrapped up our interview Cynthia got a surprise as her power started flowing again.
“Look at this, the light is on!” She exclaimed.
