UPDATE: DTE: 3,500 Could Be Powerless Until Thursday

Updated, 4:50 p.m.: DTE spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba said the utility has increased the number of customers it expects will have power restored tonight.

"The repair process is going very well," he said, referring to fixes that had to made after a fire at a Royal Oak substation took out service to 10,000 DTE customers in Royal Oak and Berkley on Tuesday night. "By the end of the evening, we fully expect to have 6,500 customers that were impacted Tuesday back up online."

That leaves 3,500 consumers without power until sometime tomorrow, he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Bodipo-Memba had said 5,000 customers in Royal Oak and Berkley could be without power until Thursday as DTE crews worked to find options for them. He said the majority of outages were in Royal Oak.

DTE's outage map showed 863 customers in Berkley were without power Wednesday afternoon, an increase from earlier in the day.

Bodipo-Memba said some of the new outages were unrelated to the substation fire, but could not say what their cause was.

Updated, 1:10 p.m.: The has power and all programs are being held as scheduled, recreation programming leader Scott Jennex said.

Updated, 12:30 p.m.: Berkley City Hall remained open Wednesday despite being without power, but was operating with a bare-bones staff, City Manger Jane Bais-DiSessa said.

She said most of the City Hall staff was sent home after a half day and only herself, Assistant to the City Manager Darchelle Strickland Love, Finance Director David Sabuda and one employee each in the Building and Water Departments remained.

also closed after a half-day, Bais-DiSessa said.

"Unfortunately, there was no sun and it's getting darker," she said. "People can't see what they're doing."

She encouraged people who plan to stop by City Hall to pay bills to deposit them in the dropbox.

"I know today is the last day to pay certain bills without penalty. So, I will waive the late fee for one day," Bais-DiSessa said. "But, for those who want to come in, I can take their payments and give them manual receipts."

She added that City Hall was closed as usual from 1 to 2 p.m. for lunch.

"We are in contact with DTE," Bais-DiSessa said. "They've been very good at keeping us informed. It's a complicated fix they have have to make (after a fire at a substation in Royal Oak)."

Updated, noon: on 12 Mile Road and on Woodward Avenue in Berkley had power Wednesday. Leave a comment to let us know whether your Berkley business has power or not!

Updated, 11:45 a.m.: Some traffic lights were out along 12 Mile Road in Berkley and was without power, Director Derrick Schueller said Wednesday.

"We've had to put out a few stop signs for a few of the lights on 12 Mile," he said. "But, it doesn't appear to be causing us too much grief."

He said the outages appeared to be isolated to the area surrounding the St. John Woods neighborhood in the city's northeast corner.

Update, 11:00 a.m.: Even though many businesses were without power along Woodward Avenue on Wednesday, traffic lights were working thanks to generators placed at all intersections that lacked power by the Oakland County Road Commission.

Drivers are urged to proceed with care in Berkley and Royal Oak and treat all intersections without power as four-way stops.

Update, 10:45 a.m.: DTE spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba said 2,000 customers have had power restored after a substation fire knocked out service to 10,000 in Royal Oak and Berkley late Tuesday night. He added that 3,000 more can expect to have service restored today.

That was the good news.

Bodipo-Memba added that 5,000 customers in Royal Oak and Berkley could be without power until Thursday as DTE crews work to find options for them.

At outage's peak thus far in Berkley, . DTE's outage map showed that by 11:25 a.m. Wednesday, the utility had whittled down the number of Berkley customers without power to 555.

"The fire is out and crews are there assessing the situation," he said.

He urged those without power to keep generators outside, unplug major appliances and keep their refrigerators closed to preserve as much cold air as possible.

Businesses along Woodward Avenue were among those without power, so call ahead to see if the merchant you plan to visit is open.

Updated, 9:04 a.m.: Power was gradually being restored Wednesday morning to the .

DTE's outage map showed that by 8:50 a.m. the utility had whittled down the number of Berkley customers without power to 556. The outages were caused by a substation fire that forced the utlity to .

"A transformer blew up, which caused the subsequent fire in the substation," Capt. Tom Kelly of the said. "We were unable to extinguish the fire immediately. We had to wait for Edison crews to arrive because there were still other transformers energized in the building."

Kelly said utility company crews were on the scene in 15 minutes to shut off power in the unoccupied building.

"We cannot be walking around a building in the dark with smoke – especially after an explosion – and risk being electrocuted," Kelly said.

Firefighters were on the scene for more than two and a half hours, he said. There were no reported injuries.

DTE spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba said customers will be moved to other circuits as soon as possible. Estimated service restoration times range between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. today.