Ann Arbor, Michigan Power Outage Today

How reliable is DTE Energy service in Ann Arbor?

DTE Energy is an investor-owned utility with 2,261,010 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.25 interruptions and 483 minutes (about 8.1 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 6.5 hours.

About 67% of that time came on major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately. On ordinary days the average falls to 159 minutes. A handful of severe-weather days, not everyday faults, set this utility’s year.

The long average outage is the notable figure: when the lights went out for DTE Energy customers, they stayed out for about 6.5 hours on average, which is long enough to spoil refrigerated food and strain medical needs.

For comparison, Michigan as a whole averaged 470 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That is close to the state average.

Among the 24 utilities in Michigan with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, DTE Energy ranks 18th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 22% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Storm season and outages in Ann Arbor

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 166 storm reports for Washtenaw County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (94), hail (62), flash flood (5), and flood (3). The busiest full year was 2023 with 34 reports and the quietest was 2022 with 2, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (44 since 2015), followed by July and August. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 26 storm episodes in Washtenaw County since 2015, most often in July. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in Ann Arbor do to the grid:

• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.
• Hail. Hail rarely cuts power by itself, but it often arrives with the wind and lightning that do, and it breaks solar panels, windshields and exposed utility equipment.
• Flash flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.

Storm reports that name Ann Arbor

Within Washtenaw County, 37 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Ann Arbor as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (24), hail (11), flash flood (1), and tornado (1). That is about 22% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Ann Arbor are most common in July. The busiest full year was 2023 with 9. These reports record 1 injury in total.

In NOAA’s own words, storms that left Ann Arbor without power:

• April 15, 2026 (thunderstorm wind): “Trees and power lines were reported down across parts of the county, especially in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• August 27, 2024 (thunderstorm wind): “Trees and power lines reported down across many parts of Washtenaw County, but especially over Scio Township and the Ann Arbor area.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Ann Arbor

70.7% of occupied homes in Ann Arbor are heated with piped natural gas, and 26.1% with electricity (US 41.3% electric). A gas furnace still needs electricity for its blower and ignition, so a long winter outage leaves these homes cold too, though a gas supply stays on when the grid fails. Never heat a home with an oven, grill or camp stove indoors.

Residents aged 65 or older are 12.9% of the population in Ann Arbor, below the US share of 17.2% and 8.5% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask DTE Energy whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 48.2% of the housing in Ann Arbor was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), and older neighborhoods often have overhead service lines and mature trees close to the wires, which makes them more exposed to storm outages; 54.5% of households rent (US 34.8%), so many residents depend on a landlord to restore building systems and cannot add a generator or battery themselves.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Ann Arbor

The average DTE Energy home used about 610 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 0.8 kW around the clock, and paid about 20.1 cents per kWh (19.3 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $123 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 6.5 hours takes about 2.6 kWh. A portable power station in the 1 to 3 kWh range covers part of that, and a small inverter generator covers all of it.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in Ann Arbor

About 123,851 people live in Ann Arbor, the 5th largest of the 10 Michigan cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check DTE Energy’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

Ann Arbor power outage map

DTE Energy’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Ann Arbor power outage questions