DTE Energy announces electric reliability progress: Customers experienced a 70% improvement in time spent without power in 2024

Detroit, Jan. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DTE Energy today reported the progress it made in 2024 in building a smarter, stronger, and more resilient electric grid for its customers. Due to the impact of enhanced work and increased investment in the electric grid, coupled with less extreme weather, DTE customers experienced a nearly 70% improvement in time spent without power between 2023 and 2024.    

“When we invest, it works. Thanks to the combination of $1.5 billion of investment in the electric grid last year, coupled with less extreme weather, our customers experienced a significant improvement in electric reliability in 2024,” said Matt Paul, president and chief operations officer, DTE Electric. “Our work to build the electric grid of the future is showing results, but we have a lot of work ahead, and tremendous investment to be made, to achieve the sustained electric reliability improvements our customers demand and deserve.” 

To make these improvements possible, DTE is focused on executing the company’s four-point plan to build the grid of the future that includes transitioning to a smart grid, updating existing infrastructure, rebuilding significant portions of the grid and trimming and removing trees away from our lines. In 2024 the company made significant progress including: 

• DTE accelerated its transition to smart grid technology with more than 450 new circuit automation devices commissioned in 2024. These devices, combined with a state-of-the-art operations center and additional investments in the field communications system, help to isolate outages and alert DTE’s operations center when wires are down, so that crews can restore power more quickly. In 2024 alone, these smart grid devices helped customers avoid nearly 10,000 outages and 4 million minutes of power interruption and smart grid technologies, like automatic pole top switches, have already helped avoid more than 50,000 customer outages. Every year, these upgrades will continue to help us save money by reducing the frequency of outages and the costs of repairs even more. 

• The company continued rebuilding significant sections of the grid, including the construction of new, modern substations and entirely upgraded circuits. DTE currently has 12 new substations in various levels of commissioning, including three that began construction late in 2024 

• DTE upgraded and improved existing infrastructure. In 2024, field crews inspected and made upgrades along more than 850 miles of electric lines (longer than the distance between New York City and Chicago) and replaced nearly 3,400 power poles. 

• Trees and branches contacting electric equipment account for half the time customers spend without power, and in 2024 DTE trimmed or removed more than 4,300 miles of trees (the distance between Miami and Anchorage) across the many communities the company serves. By the end of this year, DTE will have trimmed or removed trees from over 31,000 miles of overhead infrastructure over the last five years.  

To stay informed about ongoing projects you can explore DTE Energy ’s Power Improvements Map or visit empoweringmichigan.com    

About DTE Energy  

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric company serving 2.3 million customers in Southeast Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3 million customers across Michigan. The DTE portfolio also includes energy businesses focused on custom energy solutions, renewable energy generation, and energy marketing and trading. DTE has continued to accelerate its carbon reduction goals to meet aggressive targets and is committed to serving with its energy through volunteerism, education and employment initiatives, philanthropy, emission reductions and economic progress. Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com, empoweringmichigan.com, x.com/dte_energy and facebook.com/dteenergy. 

CONTACT: Dave Akerly
 DTE Energy 
313.235.5555