DETROIT (WXYZ) — On Wednesday, DTE held a press conference with a warning for customers, urging them to prepare for possible power outages this holiday weekend.
“Winter Storm Elliot is rolling across the country. It's a massive weather event that stretches from Oregon to Maine,” DTE Electric President Trevor Lauer said. “We will come and we will restore the outages, but keep yourself warm and prepare because it’s going to be very cold if you do lose power.”
Strong wind combined with heavy snow and frigid temperatures could also delay restoration times. Utility companies across the country are scrambling to recruit crews.
“Because of the nature of this winter storm, it's going to make restoration much harder,” Lauer said. “First thing we have to do is get the roads clear, and there's only certain conditions you can get up on a bucket or climb a pole while you’re trying to restore.”
DTE expects the bulk of the outages to happen Friday with restoration likely beginning early on Saturday. They’ll have 700 lineworkers working along with roughly 1,000 other employees.
"They’re looking forward to spending time with their loved ones. We're asking many of them to cancel those plans right now and work Saturday, Sunday and Monday,” Lauer said. "Everybody works hard and looks forward to these blessed times with their families, but we have 2.2 million households and business that count on us, so we will show up.”
DTE does not have an estimate on how many customers might be without power and for how long, saying it all depends on the wind speeds during the storm.
"The weather is still two days out, and 5 miles an hour of wind one way or the other can have a huge impact on how many customers are affected,” Lauer said. “If we start to get consistent gusts in the 60s and higher, it could cause a much higher potential event for the state of Michigan.”
If you use a generator, be sure to keep it outside to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. You should also keep your distance from any downed power lines.
