DTE Energy is dedicated to constructing a smarter, stronger and more resilient grid to enhance reliability. Our commitment to customers is to reduce power outages by 30% and to cut outage durations in half by 2029.
In Detroit’s Brewster Homes, Brush Park, Douglas and southern Midtown neighborhoods, we’re investing $80 million to modernize 25 miles of underground and overhead electrical equipment. This infrastructure will help deliver reliable power to homes and businesses in the area.
As part of this project, which began in 2019 and will be completed later this year, we’re rebuilding and upgrading the underground conduit, cables and transformers that deliver power to this area of the city with stronger electrical equipment. This new equipment will provide customers in the area with much better reliability of service during extreme weather and greatly increase the system capacity with a growing reliance on electric power.
Our front-line crews were recently at the corner of Fisher Service Drive and John R Street carrying out more of these upgrades. Specifically, the crew was upgrading the underground equipment here and getting the underground service covered and filled in. The reason the equipment upgrades were needed here was to better prepare this area for higher demands. This new equipment is more reliable and safer for our crews to provide proper maintenance. They have been working in this area for about two weeks and will soon have the upgrades completed.
DTE is underway building the grid of the future. That plan includes transitioning to a smart grid, upgrading existing infrastructure, rebuilding significant portions of the grid and trimming trees. These are at the core of our plan as we work to increase reliability in Detroit and for the many communities we serve.
To stay informed about ongoing projects you can explore DTE Energy’s power improvements map or visit Empowering Michigan’s reliability improvements webpage.