Nessel making stop on power outage tour
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will soon be traveling around the state to hear from residents that have dealt with repeated and prolonged power outages this summer.
Nessel is making Novi the first stop on her “Power Outage Listening Tour,” which will include direct discussions with residents. The feedback will help the state’s top law enforcement official as she continues to advocate for Michiganders before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), which regulates utility companies.
Since June, hundreds of thousands of Michiganders have experienced repeated, longterm power outages as a result of severe storms that have swept through the area downing power lines, flooding homes and streets, and causing millions of dollars worth of damage to properties across the state, especially in Oakland County and Wayne counties.
DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, the state’s largest utility companies, have been criticized by many, including Nessel, Whitmer, and many local leaders and residents for failing to restore power in a timely manner and failing to make critical improvements to harden the state’s power grid. Many have also called on the two utilities to increase their tree-trimming efforts to improve the reliability of power.
The listening tour stop, which is open to everyone, not just Novi residents, will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 20, at the Novi Civic Center, 45175 W 10 Mile Road. Mayor Bob Gatt and City Manager Pete Auger will join Nessel along with representatives from the MPSC and other elected officials.
In response to these prolonged power outages, Nessel launched an online feedback initiative focused on the state’s power companies.
In its first two weeks online, the majority of responses were from Oakland and Wayne County residents. The 1,199 Oakland County respondents experienced an average of 2.91 outages this summer, with more than 41% of respondents sharing the outages resulted in a financial loss of between $100 and $500.
Wayne County residents accounted for 1,015 responses in the first two weeks and experienced an average of 2.72 outages this summer. The majority of Wayne County respondents — 45% — also reported a financial loss of between $100 and $500.
The feedback form can be found on the department’s homepage or by visiting directly here: https://forms.office.com/ Pages/ResponsePage.aspx? id=h3D71Xc3rUKWaoku9 HIl0UQ-UgPiXBFJhjVuTkhm5XpUQkpXSU0wQVdITURHQ1ZJMlMyTDRXOTNFSC4u.
The summer storms, and resulting power outages and widespread property damage have caused local governments to seek additional state assistance by making formal requests to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In many cases, Whitmer has both approved those local requests and has submitted requests for additional federal aid to President Biden and FEMA.
For weeks, federal officials have been on the ground surveying damage with state and local officials to determine the extent of the damage in these hardest-hit counties and communities to determine their eligibity for federal aid.