The Michigan Public Service Commission has issued orders that adopt all 75 recommendations of a third party audit of Consumers Energy and DTE Energy, after severe storms in August 2022 left hundreds of thousands of people without power for long periods.
The commission said it will consider whether the utilities have made the improvements when they ask for future rate increases.
The two utilities agreed with many of the recommendations, but not all. For example, Consumers Energy took issue with the recommendation that it should analyze the benefit of accelerating its tree trimming circuit to every four years instead of every seven — and DTE Energy pushed back on the recommendation that it should conduct more frequent inspections of its overhead lines.
Public service Commissioner Katherine Peretick said both utilities must also do better reporting of downed wire statistics. A 14-year-old girl was killed by a downed wire after the 2022 storms.
"The danger of live wires that fall down off of utility poles cannot be overstated," she said.
Peretick says the companies have already implemented some of the audit's recommendations, such as hiring their own meteorologist.
"This meteorologist can better predict storm impact, location and severity, allowing the utilities to become more effective at staging their crews, and ensuring the right equipment and personnel is dispatched to the most effective location," she said.
Both utilities said they have improved their storm response since 2022.
In a statement, Consumers Energy spokesman Brian Wheeler said the company reduced the length of power outages last year, and is moving closer to its goal to restore power in all situations in less than 24 hours.
"We’re reviewing today’s MPSC recommendations based on the audit of our company’s storm response, and we look forward to working with them to deliver on our shared vision of a stronger, more resilient electric grid for Michigan," he said.
DTE Energy's statement said the order aligns with its commitment to significantly reduce outages and cut outage time.
"With the combination of $1.5 billion of investment in the electric grid last year, coupled with less extreme weather, our customers experienced a nearly 70% improvement in time spent without power in 2024. We thank the MPSC and the audit team for recognizing our progress and providing recommendations for improvement."
Editor's note: Consumers Energy and DTE Energy are among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
