Michigan is going through a pivotal moment right now. The power grid is experiencing unprecedented transformation and challenge as a result of the widespread use of electric vehicles and the prevalence of extreme weather.
DTE Energy has a strategy for overcoming this obstacle by investing in and constructing the future grid.
Over the past five years alone, DTE has invested more than $5 billion in upgrading its grid. The organization proceeds with that speculation to give clients the power they need and the unwavering quality they merit.
There are four main areas of focus in DTE’s plan:
- Tree trimming Dead trees and branches on equipment and wires account for two-thirds of people’s power outages. DTE enhanced its tree trimming program as a result. The business has put more than $586 million into tree trimming since 2020, and it is on track to put in another $175 million this year. Over the past five years, DTE has trimmed more than 25,000 miles of trees and will trim another 5,000 miles in 2023. DTE will have aggressively reduced every grid mile by the end of 2024 and will continue to reduce every five years.
- DTE keeps investing in the upkeep of existing equipment as it updates existing infrastructure. Customers saw a 40-70% increase in reliability as a result of the company’s ongoing maintenance efforts in 2022 on some of the circuits that were experiencing the most difficulty.
- Remaking huge parts of the framework
Detroit was perhaps the earliest city in the country to energize completely. Yet, that was over 100 years back, and presently it’s one of the country’s most established lattices. It is now time to make an investment in rebuilding a portion of the city’s grid in order to significantly increase its resilience and dependability. During this revamp, there might be vital chances to move wires underground.
- DTE has laid the groundwork for investing in smart grid technology with the recent launch of its cutting-edge grid management system and its brand-new Systems Operations Center, accelerating the transition to a smart grid. This technology will frequently assist experts in quickly locating damaged grid regions and isolating outages in order to quickly restore many customers.
How might this have an effect?
DTE is able to automatically reroute service around the outage area thanks to this system, preserving power for a larger number of customers (up to 80% of those impacted in some instances). Crews will be able to carry out repairs in a safer and quicker manner, arriving at a work site half as quickly to assess the situation and get started on the repairs.
Consider a contemporary string of Christmas lights. One light goes out over time, and then none of the others work. Now, even if a few go out, the rest stay on. That is the meaning of automation in the smart grid.
DTE Energy has invested a lot of money in the grid, but it’s not finished yet. The company intends to invest more than $9 billion in the grid over the next five years to make it safer and more reliable for customers. The investment is crucial for Michigan’s future, even though it will take time to construct a world-class grid for customers.
Do you want to see what is being done in your community? Online access the Electric Reliability Improvements Map
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Marketwise Analytics journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.
