Thank you, Chicago! Probably few Detroiters thought they`d be saying that following last spring`s NBA playoffs. But then, no one ever thought we`d have a sudden storm that would knock out power to nearly 700,000 Southeastern Michigan residences, businesses, schools and other institutions. That`s more than a third of Detroit Edison`s customers and nearly twice as many as were affected by any previous outage in our company`s 88-year history.
While they all have their service back now, that probably wouldn`t be true were it not for the cooperation and help extended by Commonwealth Edison. The storm struck on a Sunday evening with lightning, heavy rain and winds up to 70 miles an hour. In accordance with utility tradition and standing agreements, we quickly issued a call for help. Commonwealth Edison came through-providing 40 lines crews complete with trucks, tools and supervision.
The cooperation of their management, together with the good work and good humor of the crews themselves, contributed mightily to our ability to complete the massive restoration in just about a week.
