GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. (WXYZ) — DTE crews are working throughout Grosse Pointe Farms to upgrade infrastructure and improve the reliability of the electrical grid ahead of potential storms this week.
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From new equipment and utility poles to increased tree trimming, the work is part of a broader effort to reduce outages in an area where residents say losing power during storms has become a familiar frustration.
Jerry Tullio, DTE's manager of regional customer operations, said the company is focused on strengthening the grid.
"It's one of the many areas that we are focusing on throughout our service territory," Tullio said. "We're working to harden the grid. We're working to put smart devices on the system to make the electric grid more reliable. We're obviously trimming trees as well."
DTE says the work is already producing results. Between 2023 and 2025, the average time customers across all of the Grosse Pointes spent without power fell 76%.
"2023 was a challenging year here in Grosse Pointe. We did a lot of work through 2024 and the beginning of 2025 to harden the grid," Tullio said.
Several major storms in recent years left some homes in the Grosse Pointe Farms area without power for days. Resident Jennifer Chope said she has noticed an improvement.
"We get brown outs regularly," Chope said. "It has improved somewhat the brownouts aren't quite as frequent."
Fellow resident Keith Kryzwiecki said he was impressed to see DTE crews out making improvements before storms arrive.
"Whenever somethings either coming or happens, they seem to get here very, very quickly," Kryzwiecki said. "I think having them here preventively taking care of things really helps keep it from having problems."
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