Southfield launches petition demanding DTE be held accountable after mass power outages
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Last week, hundreds of thousands of people lost power across Michigan, some for days.
The cities of Southfield and Lathrup Village have launched a petition demanding DTE Energy is held accountable for the outages. Consumers Energy customers also lost power, but DTE is the main service provider in Metro Detroit.
RELATED: AG calls on DTE, Consumers to automatically give credits after power outages
"It is essential that this sole-source provider become more concerned with their service delivery and performance over their profits," said Southfield City Council President Linnie Taylor. "It is long past time for DTE to make lasting improvements to their system that will be measurable, sustainable, and reliable."
The petition pushes for DTE to increase its infrastructure investment and improve its maintenance to reduce the number of power outages and prevent outages that last for so long.
"DTE Energy must improve their electrical system and customer service by investing in their infrastructure, equipment, personnel, training, and routine maintenance," said Southfield Mayor Dr. Ken Siver. "The increased frequency and duration of these power outages is simply unacceptable."
The petition isn't the first time leaders are calling on energy companies to make changes.
Last week, Attorney General Dana Nessel called on DTE and Consumers to start automatically crediting their customers when their power is out. Right now, customers must apply for credit if their power is out for a certain amount of time, as laid out by the energy companies.