Several days after sudden storms last week knocked out power to about half a million customers in Michigan during the Fourth of July weekend, thousands of homes were still without power.
The latest outage for DTE Energy, one of America’s largest electric utilities, has sparked outrage and snark with many — including elected officials — taking to social media to express concerns and frustrations and to suggest what can be done about it.
Liz Mayernik, 69, of Livonia, said she lost power for five days, and on Sunday, when she called DTE to find out when her power might be restored, the response from the person on the other end of the phone was: “We’re tired.”
“The guys from the crew were very nice,” she said, when they finally came out to fix the lines on Tuesday. “But the rest of the people, there was no sympathy, no care, nothing. No one reached out and asked: Are you OK? Nothing.”
Another customer posted on social media that DTE sent her an email it was sending her a $100 gift card, but that didn’t add up to what she lost, and what she really wanted was electricity. She added: “Just turn my ish on!!”
Online, “ish” is a euphemism for a vulgarity we also can’t use in the Free Press.
By 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8, there were still more than 5,300 customers without electricity, according to DTE’s outage map. Some metro Detroit neighborhoods still showed hundreds of people without power, according to DTE’s outage map.
Just a day before, DTE head Joi Harris tried to update reporters.
DTE is a regulated monopoly seeking another rate hike. It’s unclear whether Harris’ remarks and answers were enough to calm angry customers who have said they want to see results, not hear more apologies.
In September, the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan — a nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization — found that Michigan electric utilities take longer to restore power to customers following outages than utilities in any other state.
Many people are upset about the utility’s reliability record and having to suffer in sweltering summer heat, but also about the added cost of losing power: having to find other places to stay, being forced to toss out spoiled food, and even having businesses shut down.
DTE is ‘messing with us’
At the same time, on top of the inconvenience of not having power since last Friday, some customers also said they have found the DTE’s response lacking empathy and perhaps even some common sense.
“We’re entering day number 6,” one customer in Pleasant Ridge wrote on a neighborhood Facebook group. He was, he added “at a boiling point.” The post went on to complain that a repair crew showed up but wasn’t “certified to do the work” so it left.
The kicker: DTE sent an email that included a customer-feedback survey.
In another post, a different customer seemed to be able to find some irony in DTE’s effort to mitigate hardships, noting that she thought — maybe — DTE is “just messing with us,” pointing out that the company handed out “power banks to charge your phone.”
The irony: The batteries weren’t charged.
“Like, okay, we’re sorry you’ve been without power for close to a week,” the poster wrote, interpreting the message that was sent to her. “Here’s a gift on us to charge your phone. Haha, but wait, you gotta wait till we turn on the power before you can use it.”
A challenging few days
By Tuesday, with tens of thousands of customers still without power, the company held a news conference with its CEO, Joi Harris, who thanked customers for their patience during what she called a “very challenging” few days.
She apologized for the “hardships the storms may have caused our customers.” She said she heard their frustration and understood it, and she promised to restore power, review what happened, and to try to do better in the future.
Harris has been working for the utility for more than 30 years, according to her company profile, and she was named CEO about a year ago, after serving as chief operating officer, leading both DTE Electric and DTE Gas.
“Please know that I care deeply,” she said, at DTE’s Detroit headquarters. She appeared to be reading from a statement or notes, adding. “I care deeply about our customers and the communities where we serve.”
Harris called the storms a “unique event” and vowed to “learn from it.”
She also warned about the safe use of portable generators, which many people use to keep the lights on when the power goes out. First responders said generators were to blame for the deaths of three children in two incidents.
The cause of death appeared to be carbon monoxide poisoning.
$42 outage credits
During the news conference, Harris also responded to a reporter’s question about customer compensation for outages.
In Michigan, customers who experience long and frequent outages can qualify for an outage credit of $42 — or more. What qualifies is spelled out, but includes caveats. And the utility is supposed to automatically apply it to accounts.
In reality, however, the credit acts more like a fine and doesn’t — in many cases — cover what an outage may cost a customer who has to stay at a hotel or replace spoiled food because a refrigerator and freezer weren’t working for days.
“We know, $42 doesn’t cut it,” Harris acknowledged.
And $42 is the minimum requirement. There is no legal limit on what DTE can decide to offer customers it wishes to reimburse for their losses — or provide additional assistance. It can also be changed.
After DTE and Consumers Energy came under fire from the public, nonprofit watchdog groups and even the state attorney general for a lack of energy reliability, the Public Service Commission increased the credit.
More public pressure could lead to it doing so again.
Officials: Speak up, file complaints
In addition to customers, elected officials weighed in on the outages.
On Monday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel urged residents to use her Department’s Power Outage Credit Feedback & Inquiry Form and report “extended power outages or to inquire about overdue outage credits.”
She said her office would “ensure utility companies are held accountable and that ratepayers receive the credits they are legally owed.” The responses, she added, “help us track these trends and fight for you.”
On Sunday, Trenton Mayor Steven Rzeppa also took to social media.
While he expressed appreciation for employees and crews “working through the holiday weekend,” he also added, “it’s long past time we end state-sanctioned, for-profit monopolies that can’t actually do their one job.”
His complaint: DTE seems to “prioritize shareholder dividends” over service.
“We’ll keep doing our part to fight for you all, but we need to make sure they hear every voice,” he wrote, urging – with a link to the Public Service Commission – people to file a complaint. They show, he said, “not just that some elected officials” are upset, but that “everyday people” also “are hurting.”
Free Press staff writer Jamie LaReau contributed.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DTE Energy customers irritated by long outages: ‘Just turn my ish on!’
Reporting by Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
