Although the number varies depending on who you talk to, there’s no doubt Addison Township’s been plagued by multiple power outages this year.
To help the public understand why this has been happening and what’s being done to fix things, DTE Energy representative Michael A. Palchesko will be making a presentation at the township board meeting 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19 (1440 Rochester Rd).
Palchesko’s presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period during which citizens are invited to address Palchesko and voice their concerns.
‘My whole take on it is not to yell at (DTE), but ask what needs to be done and how can we help them get this whole grid up to date,? said township Supervisor Bruce Pearson.
How many outages Addison’s experienced this year depends on who you ask and where they live.
‘We are hearing different numbers from customers as to how many (outages) they’re experiencing,? Palchesko said. ‘The one circuit, where we are seeing the most outages, covers the entire Village of Leonard and most of Addison Township, east of Lake George (Road).? age and Curt Strobel, owner of Strobel’s Service station at the corner of Forest and Elmwood streets in Leonard, said he’s experienced more than 20 power outages this year at both his business and home on W. Leonard Road.
‘That’s not an exaggeration,? he said. ‘In the last couple of years, especially this year, it’s just gotten progressively worse and worse. It’s totally out of control.?
Not only has Strobel lost business and merchandise, such as dairy products and ice, at his service station, he’s also ‘worn a generator out.?
‘Should everybody have to spend $5,000 to $10,000 on a generator because we have so many power outages? It just doesn’t seem right,? he said. ‘Those generators are very expensive to run . . . To run just a regular gas generator, it’s going to cost me like $120 for gasoline for a 24-hour period.?
Pearson, who lives on Noble Road, said Strobel’s outage count is about right.
‘I would say, (in) total, we’ve probably had 20 outages that I know about throughout the different areas of the township,? he said.
But Palchesko indicated power outages cannot be all lumped together in a single category. He said there are two kinds of outages ? momentary and long duration.
Momentary outages are ‘those little bumps that cause the digital clocks to go off and blink,? according to Palchesko.
‘What happens during a momentary (outage) is the electric system is actually correcting itself so customers in that area don’t have a longer outage,? said DTE Spokesman Scott Simons. ‘In the time before digital clocks, they were pretty much unnoticed.?
Long duration outages last for five minutes or longer.
According to Palchesko, DTE’s recorded a total of nine long duration outages in Addison during the current calendar year, the most recent being one that lasted from the afternoon of Oct. 4 until the early morning hours of Monday, Oct. 5.
DTE’s engineering department has examined all the outages and determined the ‘common thread is trees,? Palchesko said.
Seven of the nine outages this year, including the Oct. 4-5 one, were caused by trees making contact with wires. The Sept. 25 outage was an intentional shutdown, while DTE crews replaced a utility pole cross-arm damaged during a storm.
Palchesko said DTE has ‘started what we like to refer to as a line clearance project, where we come in and do a big tree-trimming effort.?
The project started with some ‘spot trimming a few weeks ago? in areas with the ‘most potential to cause problems? such as places where a limb is close to a line, he explained.
DTE expects the tree trimming to be done by the end of this year. Once the project’s finished, DTE can assess whether or not anything else needs to be done to stop the power outages.
‘We’ll follow up with whatever steps are needed after we see the impact of cutting the trees back,? Palchesko said.
Pearson doesn’t believe trees are the entire problem. He blames the township’s aging electrical infrastructure.
‘They keep saying it’s the trees, but it’s not just the trees. It’s an antique system,? he explained. ‘I can tell you right now a lot of the stuff we’ve got here is outdated, it’s old. A lot of the (utility) poles have been here since the 1940s.?
Pearson blames DTE for not investing the necessary funds over the years to properly maintain Addison’s system.
‘It’s easy to sell electricity and collect money every month if you don’t have to put any money into the infrastructure,? he said. ‘They make a lot more profit that way, I’m sure.?
‘They haven’t put the money into the infrastructure and now it’s coming back to bite them,? he said. ‘They need to come in and put a little bit of money into here. I don’t think it’s that difficult of a thing to do.
‘The number one thing is we get our infrastructure up to par here,? Pearson noted. ‘It’s time to quit giving it lip service and fix the problem.?
determined the ‘common thread is trees,? Palchesko said.
Seven of the nine outages this year, including the Oct. 4-5 one, were caused by trees making contact with wires. The Sept. 25 outage was an intentional shutdown, while DTE crews replaced a utility pole cross-arm damaged during a storm.
Palchesko said, in response, DTE has ‘started what we like to refer to as a line clearance project, where we come in and do a big tree-trimming effort.?
The project started with some ‘spot trimming a few weeks ago? in areas with the ‘most potential to cause problems? such as places where a limb is close to a line, he explained.
DTE expects the tree trimming in Addison to be done by the end of this year. Once the project’s done, DTE can assess whether or not anything else needs to be done to stop the power outages.
‘We’ll follow up with whatever steps are needed after we see the impact of cutting the trees back,? Palchesko said.
Pearson doesn’t believe trees are the entire problem. He blames the township’s aging electrical infrastructure.
‘They keep saying it’s the trees, but it’s not just the trees. It’s an antique system,? he explained. ‘I can tell you right now a lot of the stuff we’ve got here is outdated, it’s old. A lot of the (utility) poles have been here since the 1940s.?
Pearson blames DTE for not investing the necessary funds over the years to properly maintain Addison’s system.
‘It’s easy to sell electricity and collect money every month if you don’t have to put any money into the infrastructure,? he said. ‘They make a lot more profit that way, I’m sure.?
‘They haven’t put the money into the infrastructure and now it’s coming back to bite them,? he said. ‘They need to come in and put a little bit of money into here. I don’t think it’s that difficult of a thing to do.
‘The number one thing is we get our infrastructure up to par here,? Pearson noted. ‘It’s time to quit giving it lip service and fix the problem.?