DTE is working a four-point plan to improve electrical reliability and safety for all customers. The plan includes trimming trees, updating and maintaining equipment, rebuilding significant portions of the grid, and accelerating our transition to a smart grid. That smart grid is now coming together throughout Detroit’s east side with a new piece of equipment called a recloser.
The recloser will help improve reliability and help crews keep the power in in several ways. It helps us by identifying and isolating broken conductors on our circuits. In the event of a storm, this allows a crew to open a Viper Recloser rather than wait for someone to go to a substation to open a breaker. This makes it easier for crews to do repairs when and where they are needed the most. This will also reduce the number of crews that need to be dispatched. DTE plans to install nearly 1,000 Viper Reclosers in 2024.
Crews can be seen in the photo below installing a recloser at East Nevada and Cardoni Streets in Detroit. Our team first must bring all the cables down and hang the new recloser along with the control box. After installation, crews return two weeks later to get the new gear online. This is a part of the automation work we are now doing across the communities we serve.
You can use our Electric Reliability Improvements Map to see the investments and improvements that we are making in your community through 2023.