In July of 2020, Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck residents were among 160,000 DTE customers who lost power for up to 48 hours over two outage events, during a dangerous heat wave and ongoing pandemic. Two days later, a Detroit resident was hospitalized for electric shock after a DTE power line fell for the 4th time.
This is not a new issue. Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck residents are twice as likely to be killed by downed power lines than others in DTE service territory.
DTE’s racist disregard for our communities threatens our health and safety, and impacts ...
In July of 2020, Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck residents were among 160,000 DTE customers who lost power for up to 48 hours over two outage events, during a dangerous heat wave and ongoing pandemic. Two days later, a Detroit resident was hospitalized for electric shock after a DTE power line fell for the 4th time.
This is not a new issue. Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck residents are twice as likely to be killed by downed power lines than others in DTE service territory.
DTE’s racist disregard for our communities threatens our health and safety, and impacts our pocketbooks. DTE is one of the worst utilities in the country in terms of reliability , and it has deadly consequences for communities already burdened with DTE's pollution and high, fast-rising energy bills. We demand accountability!
We are calling on the Michigan Public Service Commission to hold DTE accountable & ensure customers are compensated for DTE's failures.
Ensure that customers are automatically compensated for power outages – customers should receive automatic bill credits that reflect the real costs associated with power outages, including lost groceries & lost work.
Make DTE pay for their poor performance – the amount of money utilities can make should be based on their quality of service, relative to national standards.
Require that DTE prioritize safety and reliability, especially in low-income communities – preventing future power outages and injuries from down power lines
Commit to racial and economic justice in health – consider the economic costs of health impacts caused by energy pollution in all MPSC decision-making
Commit to supporting community-based clean energy as a reliability measure, and don’t approve short-sighted investments in fossil fuels.
READ: The report from Citizens Utility Board showing DTE's poor pefrformance