Ann Arbor residents say power surge after outage 'fried' their appliances

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - Some Ann Arbor residents are fuming because although power outages can be frustrating -- they can also be costly.

Dozens of ann arbor residents are feeling that Friday fter their appliances were fried when the power was restored.

"A couple of days ago there was an explosion we lost power for about 12 hours," said resident Alex Rogers. "A lot of us list appliances. I personally lost a fridge, a stove, (and) a dishwasher."

Dohren Wend is a landlord and could not believe the damage her property suffered.

"I lost a dishwasher and a power-strip went on fire and lit up the carpet," she said. "So the carpet has to be replaced, the wall was singed. This is a dangerous problem."

DTE Energy said that approximately 100 customers were impacted.

The company also sent a statement which reads in part:

"An Emergency Response Team restored service the same day. The outage was caused by a large tree outside of our right of way that fell and damaged our equipment, including several broken cross arms and a downed wire."

But some residents say this is not the first time this has happened in their neighborhood.

"This is the second power surge that didn’t seem to me to be affected by the weather in the last month," Wend said.

Now many residents say they’re calling on companies to help them salvage their appliances.

"We’ve got them out here today working on the fridge and hopefully he can fix it," Wend said.

DTE says customers should first contact their homeowners or renters' insurance site and they can also file a claim with DTE.

"I’m not confident they will want to take any responsibility," Rogers said.

To protect items against potential electrical surges, DTE encourages its customers to be proactive and take steps that include using surge protectors.

"Now my house even had a whole house surge protector which was tripped - and I still lost a dishwasher," Wend said.

Some residents say they just wish they could get some straight answers

"When I talk to local electricians they say the grid in the area is old and a lot of improvements have not been made," Rogers said.

The entire DTE statement is below:

"The recent outage in Ann Arbor affected approximately 100 customers and our Emergency Response Team restored service the same day. The outage was caused by a large tree outside of our right of way that fell and damaged our equipment, including several broken cross arms and a downed wire.

"We know how difficult it can be when an appliance is not operating. At DTE, we work closely with customers who believe their appliances are malfunctioning due to power surges caused by DTE equipment. Customers should first contact their homeowners or renters insurance site.

"They can also file a claim with DTE by visiting this site: Damages & Reliability Credits | DTE Energy To protect belongings against potential electric surges DTE strongly encourages customers to ensure proper grounding, maintain an updated electrical panel, use surge protectors, and unplug devices when possible."

Dave Akerly
DTE Energy | Senior Communications Strategist