WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. — Following consecutive winter storms and protracted power outages impacting households across West Bloomfield, Commerce, and the Lakes, State Representative Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) issued the following statement:
“My heart goes out to the thousands of people across West Bloomfield, Commerce, and the Lakes who are contending with the fall-out of protracted power outages, and I encourage all those affected to file a complaint with the Michigan Public Service Commission.”
Arbit noted that some residents waited for over a week for power to return after the ice storm, only to lose it again during the snowstorm this weekend. According to DTE’s outage map, nearly 8,000 households across Greater West Bloomfield and Commerce lost power on Friday night, including nearly the entire city of Keego Harbor.
“Even accounting for the strain extreme weather events exert on electrical infrastructure, the poor level of service rendered by DTE to our communities is exceptionally egregious,” Arbit said. “No one should tolerate underperforming utilities; not the new mother in Commerce who is forced to bring her newborn directly from the hospital to a hotel, and not the man in West Bloomfield who relies on electricity for equipment to manage a serious health condition.”
“It has long been DTE’s responsibility to invest in strengthening the electrical grid within its service area and to perform mitigation measures like tree-trimming in order to reduce outages during extreme weather events. With DTE’s record-breaking $1 billion in profits last year, consecutive applications for rate hikes, and new ‘time-of-day’ fee schedule, residents are right to question why their service quality remains so poor,” Arbit stated.
“I join with my neighbors, constituents and municipal leaders across West Bloomfield, Commerce, and the Lakes in demanding answers and accountability from DTE, and urge the House Energy Committee to immediately invite DTE’s corporate leadership to testify and begin the legislative work necessary to hold DTE accountable for increased service quality to Southeast Michigan families. Finally, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the linemen and electrical workers who worked day and night in freezing conditions to help bring power back to our communities.”