The three major power outages that took place in Ann Arbor earlier this year came with a significant price tag. As a result, the City Council passed a resolution to put pressure on DTE to improve their service.
The name of the resolution really says it all. It’s called the "Resolution to Encourage DTE to Develop a Process for Burying Power Lines, Investing in Energy Infrastructure, and Improving Grid Reliability and Resilience". It cited the two winter storms in February and March and the wind storm in July. All three of them knocked out power to thousands of residents, some for several days.
According to city staff, the three extended power outages cost the city just under $2 million.
Ward 5 councilmember Jenn Cornell said she was “stunned” that the cost only covered half of the year.
“And if we only have six months of data costing us $2 million, what’s it going to look like in two years?”
The resolution, which passed unanimously, directs the city administrator to work with DTE to develop a plan to improve grid reliability and resilience.
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