Aging electrical grid is a hazard for metro area

DTE Energy representatives attended a Ferndale City Council meeting this week to talk about why and how that city suffered a blackout for three days last week.

Why should Hamtramck have an interest in this?

Well, Hamtramck as well as the entire metro region should be concerned, very concerned. That’s because we share the same equipment, the same grid, so to speak.

What DTE revealed was eye-opening, although we’re sure they didn’t mean it to be. The reps basically admitted much of their equipment is 40 years old or older. The source of Ferndale’s power outage was traced to a cable in Royal Oak that was installed in 1969.

Have you looked at Hamtramck’s electrical equipment and lines?

Do you remember last year when a rash of fires in Detroit whipped through that city and threatened to cross over into Hamtramck? Review reporter Ian Perrotta owned a house in one of the fire zones in Detroit, just outside of Hamtramck.

He and others witnessed DTE electric lines suddenly catching on fire, falling down and starting a garage fire.

Well guess what? Ferndale residents noticed smoldering lines last week.

Perrotta recently told a Fox 2 reporter that electric lines continue to catch on fire and snap off. He says all that DTE does to “repair” the fallen lines is to reattach them, even with the outer insulation burned off.

It’s clear that DTE is not reinvesting in the metro area. This is leading to more instances of power failures and needless fires.

It seems to us that DTE needs to be investigated, before serious harm comes to Hamtramck.