WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. — West Bloomfield residents are expressing frustration over ongoing power outages, days after powerful storms knocked out electricity across the area.
Kelli Fisher-Forbers is among those still without power, struggling to work from home and waiting to reschedule several virtual meetings.
"Working from home is really tough," Fisher-Forbers said.
She said residents have been left without answers about the cause and duration of the outages.
"We haven't really gotten any explanations. We don't know if that was due to the storm. That was a couple days ago," Fisher-Forbers said.
Residents across Oakland County have sent photos and emails calling for faster power restoration. Mark Yaldo said he understands the impact of strong storms, but the length of the outages has been difficult.
"3-4 days is hard," Yaldo said.
Yaldo also described difficulty getting information when calling for updates.
"You can never reach anybody. It's all automated and you can never talk to a person," Yaldo said.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard also spoke about his own experience losing power for days, while also raising concerns about rising utility costs.
"Had everything done to make my house more efficient, and more insulated. Last year, I used more electricity than this year. So, I cut my electricity, insulated. All of that. My bill still went up by $65," Bouchard said.
Bouchard said DTE must seriously consider what people are dealing with and do more to address the issues.
DTE Energy declined an interview request but provided a statement, which reads in part:
"While we have restored power to 99% of the more than 450,000 customers impacted by this week's extreme weather, some outages are taking longer than expected. In certain cases, crews are finding additional damage requiring further work before power can be restored safely. Our Storm Response Team of more than 4,000 dedicated workers remains focused on restoring power to every customer as quickly and safely as possible, and we expect to restore all customers today."
Residents say what is most difficult is that outages are lasting longer and happening more frequently than they feel is reasonable.
One resident said her sister, who lives a block away, has been without power since last week.
"My sister doesn't have power since last week, and she lives a block away from us. She said she called and they said it's coming today," she said.
DTE is also pledging to keep customers informed on all power restoration efforts.
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