Dearborn leaders, residents slam DTE for power outage response
Local leaders and state representatives in Dearborn called out DTE Energy Monday night, after thousands remained without power since Friday's storms.
They held a news conference after the Michigan Public Service Commission announced that those impacted could receive up to $42 for spoiled food during the power outage.
"I don't see the delivery of service that residents behind me would expect," said state Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn).
Farhat and other leaders say a senior home on Ford Road in Dearborn was one of the areas most impacted by this latest power outage. And they say the utility company's response to fixing it is unacceptable.
"Shame on you, shame on you for throwing swag bags to my residents. They don't need swag bags; they need AC. They need the elevator to work," said U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit).
"Again, we recognize this inconvenience this event has caused on customers; the $42 credit is also one of the largest of its kind," said a representative for DTE.
During a news conference earlier Monday, a DTE representative acknowledged the financial hit their customers have had to endure.
"We are the community. We are the ones who pay our bills, and this is not fair. We didn't have power. We don't have air-conditioning," said resident Donna Romero.
The power was restored in the senior home within a couple of hours before the news conference on Monday afternoon.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud says the city won't be reimbursed as it once was for DTE's inability to respond.
"But if I have 25 lines down that are live, I have to sit a firefighter down at each one to babysit because DTE is not staffed appropriately; these are hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses every year," Hammoud said.
DTE said its goal by the end of the day Monday was to have power restored to 95% of affected customers, with the remainder expected back online by Tuesday.
