One of the prevalent concerns expressed at the recent LAIA Annual Meeting is the chronic electrical service disruptions that hit all or portions of our community. The March 8 windstorm was a catastrophic event that affected a great part of DTE’s service area, not just Loch Alpine. And the outage on March 30 was in several pockets throughout DTE’s service area. Nevertheless, Loch Alpine has been particularly vulnerable to power outages – major and mysterious – for years. As many of you expressed at the Annual Meeting, Loch Alpine needs and expects reliable electrical service from DTE. As a major utility, the company is failing to meet its responsibilities to its customers. We demand that they provide real, long-term corrections to our service problems here.

 

Following the Annual Meeting, we sent another message to paul.ganz@dteenergy.com Paul M. Ganz, Regional Manager DTE Energy (Ingham, Livingston, Washtenaw counties), 425 South Main LL 114, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104  734-332-8145, 313-702-0571.  Once again, we expressed concerns similar to our communications with him in recent months and in 2012 (when he indicated that DTE planned to replace several thousand feet of power lines, some old transformers and commit to a lot of tree trimming.

 

The email exchanges with Mr. Ganz, starting with the most recent can be viewed here. The exchanges include email addresses of other DTE staff.  None of the emails copied Gerard M. Anderson, chairman and CEO of DTE Energy Company, One Energy Plaza, Detroit, MI 48226.

 

Perhaps it would help if other Loch Alpine residents share their concerns and questions with DTE and with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The MPSC is investigating the widespread outages during the March 8 wind storm, as reported March 31 by Mlive. One enterprising neighbor wrote to the Michigan Public Service Commission in November, complaining about DTE’s unreliable service to Loch Alpine. It’s a good letter, and other residents may want to consider sharing the same concerns to the MPSC.  You can also file complaints to the MPSC online and by phone.

 

The Board will keep urging DTE to fix their service problems in Loch Alpine. And the expressed concerns of other members will give more weight to the cause. 

 

 

As reported in the December 29 Board Bulletin, DTE Electric has implemented service quality and reliability standards defined by the MPSC. These standards provide customers a $25 credit upon request, if their investigation of your request determines you have experienced the following:

   ·  A power outage* of more than 16 hours under normal conditions.

   ·  An outage* of more than 120 hours under catastrophic conditions

   ·  Or eight or more outages* during a 12-month period

*A power outage consists of full or partial loss of service for longer than 5 minutes.

 

If extraordinary circumstances have prevented DTE Electric from meeting these standards, the company may submit a waiver request to the MPSC for its consideration. Those who feel that they meet one of the criteria outlined above can submit a credit request via this webpage or by calling (313) 235-7104. 

 

 

Waste Management picks up most yard waste material at roadside on trash collection days April through November when properly paper-bagged or tied in bundles no longer than 4 feet. 

 

Please remember to put your garbage and recycling bins back in your garage or to the side of your home as soon as possible after curbside pick-up. Thank you.

 

 

Please be sure to clear leaves and branches from the ditches and culvert areas at your property to ensure good drainage. This will prevent water backups over your driveway and the roads, and keep debris from going to the lakes.

• Leaves and vegetation trimmings from adjacent Member property may not be deposited in the LA lakes easement or on any other LAIA property.  Members who deposit trimmings or other yard waste on any LAIA property – lakesides, roadsides, dam/spillway areas, parks and paths – will be charged for Association clean-up expenses.
• Any trimming made in the LAIA owned lakeshore property (with Lakes Committee notification) must be removed, not left there.

Thanks for your cooperation in maintaining our beautiful Loch Alpine.