Utilities Asked To Explain Response to Massive Windstorm

LANSING, MI — The Michigan Public Service Commission has asked DTE Energy and Consumers Energy to provide a “thorough accounting” of their response to a wicked March 8 windstorm that left as many as 1.5 million customers in the dark, including 2,000 who were without power for a week or more. The reports are due May 15,

MPSC Chairwoman Sally Talberg noted in a news release that the wind storm was unprecedented, but also that while many customers saw electrical service restored in a timely manner, “others waited for more than a week.” The three-member commission “wants to understand the lessons learned by Michigan utilities and their efforts to restore electric service” following the windstorm,s she said.

Commissioners are “particularly interested in each utility’s assessment of how investments made in distribution infrastructure, distribution equipment repair and construction, expansion of automation, early warning technology and vegetation management, including the clearance of trees outside of the utility easement, affected the time and number of outages from the wind storm.”

The massive windstorm “provides utilities an opportunity to assess which improvements and upgrades have provided real benefits in a time of crisis, and to improve their infrastructure, operations, and communications to improve their responses during future events,” Talberg said.

The MPSC order directs both utilities to review the following issues in their reports:

• How the wind storm affected the utilities’ distribution systems;
• How the utilities prepared for and responded to the storm;
• Whether any changes could be implemented to reduce the potential for future power outages of the same magnitude;
• Whether the utilities were properly prepared to receive and respond to customer calls to report outages and if the utilities’ customer communications were adequate;
• Whether the utilities sufficiently addressed all public safety concerns associated with downed power lines in a timely manner; and
• The performance of smart meters and other online communications.

Photo courtesy of DTE Energy