Posted on Sun, Sep 12, 2010 : 7:55 a.m.
DTE's suggestion on obtaining power outage information is laughable
By Letters to the Editor
I thought I would die laughing when I read the article from DTE that if you have an outage you could get info online. Are they running an extension cord to my house so that I can hook up my computer. Even when I run my generator, I still don't run my computer because of the surges from the generator. I don't have a laptop that runs on batteries. But anyway I just wanted to say thanks DTE for the new info. It had to be someone at the top that spent a lot of time figuring this out.
Gary L. Brewer Whitmore Lake
Comments
Some Guy in 734
Mon, Sep 13, 2010 : 10:36 a.m.
Exactly. When I'm at home, lately I'm finding I do very little of my internet browsing on an actual, wall-plugged personal computer. If I have to look something up, I grab my phone. If that's charging, I grab my iPod. And I'm going to guess that I'm far from alone in that respect. Furthermore, when I have an outage, do you know where I find myself spending a lot of time? Someplace or other that *does* have electricity. And the most recent time that happened, this summer, I used that electricity to check DTE's web site first to report my neighborhood's outage, and then to check for any information they posted about it. Now, yes, the skeptic in me does scoff about the likelihood that the information DTE provides would be accurate or fresh. The last time it happened, it wasn't either of those things. But I do remain hopeful that the next time will be better... and with any luck, quite a while from now.
flexorz
Sun, Sep 12, 2010 : 11:27 a.m.
Some people will complain about anything... This is a service being offered to us as customers of DTE - and I am thankful for it. As stated in the rest of the article you linked to, the maps can also be viewed on smartphones, and information is also available by calling (both of which are usually available during a power outage.) What more do you want, someone from the company going door-to-door? You are quick to dismiss this service, but what would your alternative be? Just because you don't have the means to access them while the power is out doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't as well.