Community Corner

DTE: Temporary Equipment Will Be in Place for Weeks

Royal Oak and Berkley will have to live with portable generators and transformers until permanent repairs are made following a Tuesday night substation fire, the utility says.

Royal Oak and Berkley residents will see a lot of activity by DTE crews as the utility works to make permanent repairs after in the cities, DTE spokesman John Austerberry said Friday.

Temporary measures to keep the cities powered up include three generators and four portable transformers dotted around Berkley and Royal Oak, as well as a large portable substation on Webster Road in front of the Royal Oak substation that caught fire Tuesday.

"The equipment will need to remain in place for a couple of weeks," Austerberry said. "When permanent repairs are made, we'll remove that equipment."

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He said DTE does not have a cost estimate at this time for the fire damage.

"We have not calculated a cost at this time because repairs are still being made," Austerberry said. Whatever the final price tag is, the costs won't be assessed to Royal Oak and Berkley customers, he said.

Find out what's happening in Huntington Woods-Berkleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

DTE's outage map showed zero customers were without power Friday in Berkley.

Assistant to the City Manager Darchelle Strickland Love said a DTE generator was powering the and , as well as .

"I don't think it's going to be a short time," the city will be relying on generator power, Strickland Love said. "A substation is major.

"I'm just thankful their priority was getting people back online," she said.


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