Summer is almost here and that means more time to spend outdoors with family and friends, but it also brings the increased risk of extreme weather. That’s why DTE is committed to reducing outages by 30% and cutting outage time in half by 2029. To do this, we’re continuing to build the grid of the future, which includes transitioning to a smart grid, upgrading existing infrastructure, rebuilding significant portions of the grid and trimming trees. And all this work is happening right now in Pontiac.
THE WORK
From 2012 to 2030, we’re investing more than $100 million to build a smarter and stronger grid. This work includes:
- Accelerating our transition to a smart grid. This technology allows the equipment in your neighborhood to seamlessly communicate with our system operations center: de-energizing lines that have fallen to keep you safe, identifying for our crews exactly where the damage is so they can begin restoration faster and rerouting power so that your lights stay on while our crews make repairs.
- Modernizing the substations that power Pontiac. Substations deliver power to neighborhood homes and businesses from our power plants, solar farms and wind parks. Improving substation equipment greatly increases reliability.
- Rebuilding the system that delivers power to customers. There are areas of Pontiac’s grid that will be completely rebuilt, including, new substations, power lines, manholes, poles and transformers. Where we do this work, customers can expect a 90% increase in their reliability.
- From 2012 to 2026, this work is happening across northern Pontiac.
- We also have rebuilding projects planned for the southeast and southwest areas of the city in the coming years.
- Rebuilding the city’s unique underground vaults. These vaults contain the underground cables and equipment that deliver power to the historic core of downtown Pontiac.
- Trimming trees near power lines. Trees and branches that fall into and damage electrical equipment account for half the time customers spend without power. Tree maintenance reduces and prevents outages.
- Maintaining and upgrading existing equipment. We’re inspecting poles and pole-top equipment — replacing or upgrading the equipment as needed. This includes new, stronger poles, more durable cross arms made of fiberglass and more. All of these are better able to stand up to storms and extreme weather.
BENEFITS
This work will make the grid in Pontiac safer, stronger and more reliable. It will also make the system ready to handle growing power needs in the city.
Stay informed on work happening throughout Pontiac and the other communities we serve at empoweringmichigan.com/reliability-improvements.