We’re rebuilding some of DTE’s oldest infrastructure to support our customers’ growing energy needs. This is part of our four-point plan to improve reliability, which also includes trimming trees, upgrading existing infrastructure and accelerating our transition to a smart grid.
In Detroit’s Brewster Homes, Brush Park, Douglas and southern Midtown neighborhoods, we’re investing $80 million to install new, stronger utility poles and 25 miles of underground and overhead electrical equipment. This infrastructure will help deliver reliable power to homes and businesses in the area.
Crews have been working over the past few months in Midtown to install new conduit (the piping that protects underground cables from the elements), cables and transformers. We have about 75% of the rebuild completed and will switch customers over to the new power system in 2024.
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- Netbank transformers support the old, lower voltage power system and the new, higher voltage power system. This allows us to keep the lights on for customers while we rebuild our infrastructure and helps us quickly and efficiently switch to the new system when the rebuild is completed.
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- Underground cables help carry power from substations to homes and businesses. Replacing the old cables and power delivery equipment with new, modernized equipment helps ensure electricity can safely and reliably travel all the way to our customers, providing the power they need.
This new power system will not only help keep the lights on for customers, but it also will allow us to increase the grid’s capacity. More capacity means we’ll be able to reliably power even more homes and businesses and support more clean energy solutions like electric vehicles.
Additionally, we are trimming trees and installing smart grid devices that can automatically reroute power to many customers during an outage.
All this infrastructure improvement work is a huge step toward creating a resilient, robust grid that can support our customers’ needs.
Learn more about the rebuilding process at empoweringmichigan.com/what-to-expect or read about work happening in your community at empoweringmichigan.com/reliability-improvements/wayne-county.