“Thousands were without power in Southeast Michigan Thursday after storms moved through the area Wednesday.
As of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 27, more than 164,000 DTE Energy customers were in the dark, according to the utility company’s outage center.”
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Fossil fuel gas plants have grown in popularity over the past fifteen years; this year, these plants will produce 41% of the nation’s power. They’re also contributing to power outages across the country. Fossil fuel gas plants have contributed “to more than seven hours of power interruptions for US households on average in 2021, more than double the rate reported in 2013.”
During this past winter’s storms and freezing weather, a large number of fossil fuel gas-powered plants were offline. “[S]ome gas plants, like Indeck Niles Energy Center in Michigan, didn’t produce any power at all during the grid’s emergency calls to action, the data show. At that brand-new facility, which had only been commissioned a couple of months prior, severe winter weather caused critical equipment like transmitters and valves to freeze, said people familiar with the operations who asked not be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Indeck Niles management declined to comment.”
Read the full article at Bloomberg
“Crews had been working to upgrade a primary cable when the back-up, called a secondary cable, failed. Technical issues with a portable substation generator caused further delays, [a DTE spokesman] said.
Resident Gary Schlachter, who lives near the lake, said he’s frustrated because he arrived home from surgery and was unable to use a physical therapy machine. The refrigerated food in the house has gone to waste, too, he said on Friday.
“This is ridiculous, especially after what they did last winter,” he said, calling it a “horrible utility performance.”
Pontiac Councilman Mikal Goodman called it “extremely dangerous to have any group of people in the heat without any true respite, especially those with medical conditions.”
Goodman called for better communication from DTE Energy and better compensation for their losses. Customers can apply for greater compensation based on damages on the DTE Energy website.”
Read the full article at The Oakland Press