Did you know that Detroit was one of the first cities in the nation to fully electrify?
That took place more than a century ago. Now, it’s one of the country’s oldest grids, according to DTE.
From extreme weather becoming an everyday occurrence to adoption of electric vehicles, the power grid is both changing and challenged like never before. It’s a transformational time for Michigan.
According to DTE, the plan to meet those challenges should (and will) include four things: updating the existing infrastructure, rebuilding portions of the grid, accelerating the transition to a smart grid and keeping trees trimmed.
Here’s the plan for the four key areas of interest:
1. Trimming trees
According to DTE, downed trees and branches on wires and equipment account for two-thirds of the time that people are without power.
Since 2020, the energy company has invested more than $586 million in tree trimming and are on track to invest an additional $175 million this year.
More than 25,000 miles of trees have been trimmed over the last five years and 5,000 miles more will be trimmed in 2023. By the end of 2024, DTE will have trimmed every mile of the grid and will continue trimming on a five-year cycle.
2. Update existing infrastructure
According to DTE, investment in existing equipment must continue. Circuits that have historically been the most challenged were the focus of ongoing maintenance in 2022. In some of those areas, customers saw reliability improve by 40% to 70%.
3. Rebuild significant portions of the grid
Being one of the first cities to fully electrify more than a century ago was progressive, but now, with the power grid being one of the oldest in the country, DTE leaders stand firm that it’s time to rebuild portions to improve resiliency and reliability.
DTE officials said during the rebuild there could be strategic opportunities to move wires underground.
4. Accelerate the transition to a smart grid
According to DTE, with new operations and the launch of a state-of-the-art grid management system, the energy company has already begun laying the foundation for smart grid technology.
In many cases, the technology will help to quickly pinpoint damaged areas on the grid and isolate outages to restore power to more customers in minutes.
How will this make a difference? The system permits the ability to automatically reroute service around the outage area, keeping more customers with power -- in some cases up to 80% of impacted customers. This allows crews to perform repairs safely and more quickly, even enabling them to get to a work site 50% faster to assess and begin making repairs.
A great analogy of how this works is to think of a modern string of holiday lights. In years gone by, one light would go out and then none of the others would work. Now, if one or two go out, the rest remain on. Simply put, that’s what automation on the smart grid can help to do.
While significant investments in the grid have been made, there’s still much to be done. DTE leaders said over the next five years, they plan to invest more than $9 billion in the power grid to make it safer and more reliable for customers.
The energy company has already invested more than $5 billion upgrading the grid over the last five years alone, but DTE leaders said the investment must continue in order to provide customers with the power they need and the reliability they deserve.
To learn more about how DTE Energy is building a cleaner, more reliable and affordable grid of the future, click or tap here.