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    • DTE, consumer outage duration is “worse than average” for utilities.
    Suffolk

    DTE, consumer outage duration is “worse than average” for utilities.

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

    Lansing — Michigan’s two largest utilities experienced “worse than average” interruptions and restoration delays than other utilities, and tree removal cycles at both DTE Electric and Consumers Energy were delayed more than their counterparts, according to an independent audit conducted by the state Regulatory authorities released it Monday.

    The audits of the two utilities — which serve about 4.1 million customers, or about 80% of Michigan’s electric customers — were ordered by the Michigan Public Service Commission in 2022 “amid a series of widespread outages and public frustration over unreliable service.” The analyzes were conducted by Pennsylvania-based The Liberty Consulting Group and are believed to be the first of their kind for the state’s two largest utilities.

    The reports paint a picture of attempts to slowly replace or repair aging infrastructure and prune harmful branches and trees as severe weather events have repeatedly disrupted services for hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents in recent years.

    The review, said Civil Service Commission Chairman Dan Scripps, “provides a roadmap for building a network that meets customer expectations.”

    “The review underscores that now is the time for both companies to focus more on strategic investments to prevent failures rather than reacting to them,” Scripps said.

    Commissioner Katherine Peretick said the reports brought “unprecedented transparency” into utility infrastructure, while Commissioner Alessandra Carreon said state utility regulators had never taken “such a deep look” into utility equipment, maintenance and tree-trimming schedules .

    Liberty Consulting Group is expected to present its findings to the commission at its Thursday meeting in Delta Township.

    “The MPSC review of our company’s response to severe weather was constructive and we appreciate the extensive experience and expertise that Liberty brought to the process. Consumers Energy has proactively provided Liberty with data, information and access to our facilities,” Consumers Energy spokeswoman Katie Carey said in a statement.

    Matt Paul, president of DTE Electric, said the Detroit-based utility is still reviewing the audit but remains “keenly focused on the goal” of reducing blackouts by 30% by 2029.

    “We are always looking for ways to improve our processes and programs and thank the audit team for recognizing our progress and providing recommendations on improvements we can make to better serve our customers,” Paul said.

    The audits found that both the Consumer and DTE customer indexes for average outage duration in 2022 and 2023 – the average time it takes to restore service – were worse than other utilities’ averages and in terms of reliability ranked in the fourth quartile. The report also found in those same years that the number of consumer and DTE customers experiencing four or more outages, as well as customers experiencing outages lasting 8 hours or more, was “greater than would normally be acceptable to utilities.” , which again corresponds to the fourth quartile compared to other utilities.

    In 2023, 25% of consumer customers experienced outages lasting more than eight hours and 10% of electric customers experienced four or more outages lasting more than five minutes.

    According to the audit, DTE customers performed worse that same year. In 2023, more than 13% of DTE customers experienced four or more interruptions and 45% experienced outages lasting more than 8 hours.

    The report pointed out that “two similarly positioned investor-owned utilities,” Ameren Illinois Co. in southern Illinois and Commonwealth Edison Co. in northern Illinois, had a four-year tree trimming cycle and faced consumer outages and recovery were rated better than DTE or Consumers.

    In comparison, consumers aim for a trim cycle of five, seven or nine years depending on circuit voltage, but the current average is nearly 10 years, “and there are still overloaded circuits waiting for trimming,” the report says .

    DTE, for its part, aims for a tree trimming cycle of five years and currently averages five to seven years, the report said.

    The Lansing Board of Water and Light, which serves about 100,000 customers in the Lansing area, significantly improved its ranking “after spending significantly” on vegetation management rather than investing in automation, according to the report.

    The report did not conclude that consumers’ power distribution assets were of advanced age compared to other systems, but did highlight the age of some of DTE’s assets.

    For DTE, the underground trunk or “system” cable dates to the early 20th century and the underground residential distribution cable dates to the late 1960s. The report said the company had 255 system cable failures and 864 underground cable failures in 2023.

    Additionally, approximately 20% of DTE’s subtransmission lines and 28% of its distribution towers were installed more than 60 years ago. According to the report, about 40% of DTE’s 4.8 kV substation transformers date from before 1960, including some from a century ago to 1924, and some of the 13 kV transformers from the 1960s.

    “These circumstances result in a portion of the Company’s substation transformer (DTE) equipment being older than those of similarly located utilities,” the report said. “While condition, not age, should drive transformer replacement, periodic excessive loading contributes to high failure rates in DTE transformers in substations.”

    The report also found that approximately 16-18% of consumers’ 480-volt or less service transformers and 52% of DTE’s primary circuits were located on backlots, making access difficult for maintenance and tree trimming purposes.

    Consumers are focusing their power grid spending on new technology, burying power lines and removing tree branches that can fall during storms and disrupt operations, Carey said.

    “Consumers Energy remains committed to building a smarter, stronger electric grid that provides reliable, 24/7 power to Michigan,” she said.

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    Caradoc Wyn
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