Major upgrades to a substation servicing the Claytown, Michigan-Martin and Springwells neighborhoods, along with parts of nearby Dearborn will soon bring better electric service and reliability for nearly 7,000 DTE customers in southwest Detroit by the end of this year.
DTE is investing $21 million to relocate and upgrade substation equipment, including a transition to a smart grid.
This new smart grid equipment will allow DTE to monitor and control the flow of electricity at the substation remotely so issues can be identified and safely fixed more quickly. This will also help keep power on for more customers, especially during extreme weather. The new equipment will also restore this substation’s ability to fully serve all DTE customers in the local area once again.
Why is DTE upgrading here?
In the past, heavy rainfall, especially in the summer of 2021, caused the McGraw Substation basement to flood, seriously damaging vital electrical equipment. To ensure everyone in the area receives the power they need and reliability they deserve, DTE swiftly transferred some customers’ electric service to other nearby substations. DTE also placed large, portable generators in the community and constructed a series of electric poles just outside of the main substation. These solutions, though temporary, have helped improve short-term electric capacity and reliability issues for local customers.
The latest progress
Crews recently began relocating equipment from the basement to the second floor of the substation. They pulled in a new power line from the ground level to the upper level and are preparing to install a new transformer. This will help prevent future equipment damage from flooding during extreme weather events.
Throughout this year, DTE will also install new, modern equipment inside and outside the substation. Upgraded equipment includes four new transformers, ready to manage the growing electric needs of the future for customers in southwest Detroit.
Substation work like this is part of DTE’s plan to build the grid of the future, one with 30% fewer outages and that reduces restoration time by half – all within five years. You can stay up to date on the substation updates by visiting empoweringmichigan.com/reliability-improvements. See other work happening in your area and beyond on our electric reliability improvements map.
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