Мэр Трентона критикует DTE за рекордные сроки восстановления электроснабжения после шторма

Anna Malnar of Trenton had planned to travel to Florida with her husband next Saturday. Instead, she said on Monday, July 6, they’re waiting for an insurance adjuster to look at their car, which has a large tree covering it and a back window that’s smashed out. “Obviously, it’s not drivable,” she said. Malnar lost power at her home in the Fort Street-West Road area early Saturday morning, July 4, the result of a large storm that struck the previous evening. Power was restored early Monday afternoon. “It was very bad,” she said. “We had to throw away everything in the refrigerator.” Malnar is one of tens of thousands of Downriver residents who lost power when heavy rain, wind and lightning struck Friday evening. As of Monday afternoon, many have been without power for nearly three full days. DTE Energy posted on its website that it expects to restore service to 95% of impacted customers by the end of the day Monday. Trenton Mayor Steven Rzeppa says that’s not good enough. “While Michigan continues to lead the way across the entire country with the longest restoration times during power outages, DTE has informed me that they do not anticipate having power restored in Trenton until tomorrow,” he posted on his Facebook page on Sunday, July 5. “At that point nearly 72 hours after the storm. And we might be lucky to get that. … “We are incredibly appreciative of the understaffed and under-resourced linemen working through the holiday weekend and spread too thin (thanks to DTE!). But it’s long past time we end state-sanctioned, for-profit monopolies that can’t actually do their one job, especially those who prioritize shareholder dividends over the service they’re obligated to provide. “We’ll keep doing our part to fight for you all, but we need to make sure they hear every voice. I know many of you have lost groceries, medicine, and have also dealt with complete lack of responsiveness by our friendly neighborhood power outage company.” Rzeppa encouraged those affected to file a complaint with the Michigan Public Service Commission at mpsc.my.site.com/complaints/complaintform. As of Monday afternoon, DTE reported on its website that more than 67,000 customers were still without service. The utility said on its website that its teams are “working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service.” DTE advised everyone to stay at least 25 feet from downed power lines and anything in contact with them. To report an outage, storm damage or a downed line, visit outage.dteenergy.com.