Commuters in the northern part of Westland probably saw our trucks working this week at the corner of Merriman and Joy. That is because they were installing some major upgrades on the busy intersection which will improve service for many customers and businesses in this area. Our team replaced and upgraded an old, weathered wooden utility pole with a taller, steel pole that can better withstand the test of time and inclement weather. In addition to upgrading to steel, the other major upgrade was installing a top pole switch (or TPS as it’s called). A TPS is a switch that essentially allows the pole to be operated remotely. The benefit to this is that if an outage were to occur, DTE could control its operation from afar, choosing to transfer its load or take other steps to keep providing power to the area. This ensures that power can be restored much faster without waiting for a crew to come on site.
You may see more of our crews in the coming months as part of our accelerated electric reliability projects in your area, including more tree trimming and infrastructure updates. All these projects are underway to improve your service and reliability for the short and long term.
Make sure to regularly check the Westland community page to learn more about what’s going on in your neighborhood. You can also follow DTE on Facebook and Twitter for even more updates and information.
