DTE Energy’s smart grid delivers reliability improvements

DTE Energy has reported its smart grid technology preventing nearly 5,000 customer power interruptions and 1.8 million outage minutes for customers so far in 2024.

The smart grid includes advanced distribution management system software, a state-of-the-art systems operation centre, substation equipment, automated reclosers and smart meters.

With this the company is able to remotely monitor, operate and control the grid across its 2.3 million customer southeast Michigan service area.

“We’re dedicated to reducing power outages by 30% while cutting outage durations in half by 2029 – and smart technology is a critical investment to help us reach that goal,” commented Matt Paul, president of DTE Electric.

“Accelerating our transition to a smart grid is a game changer for our customers and we’re already seeing positive results. We’re creating a resilient energy system that adapts in real-time to keep power flowing and the lights on for homes and businesses.”

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DTE’s smart grid forms part of the company’s plan to build ‘the grid of the future’, with the installation of 10,000 reclosers to effectively automate the entire system by 2029.

With this should come improved safety and fewer and shorter outages with faster restoration times.

Other elements of the plan include updating infrastructure such as poles, transformers and other substation equipment, rebuilding the significant older portions of the grid and an aggressive tree trimming programme, with trees accounting for around half of customers outage times.

DTE records having trimmed 64,000km of trees since 2015 and by the end of 2025 should have its entire system on a 5-year cycle.

For all this DTE is planning to invest more than $9 billion in the grid over the next five years.