The Metro: When the power goes out, people call the mayor
Michigan regulators are investigating utilities over the Fourth of July outages. Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich on the consequences her city has felt from a long pattern of outages.
Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich speaks with The Metro host Robyn Vincent at WDET's studios in Detroit on July 20, 2026.
What does accountability look like for Michigan’s utilities after over half a million residents lost power earlier this month?
Last week, the state opened an investigation into DTE Energy, Consumers Energy, and Indiana Michigan Power Co. for their response to the outages, which stretched on for multiple days for some residents in 90 degree heat.
In Farmington Hills, at a senior living home, where some residents rely on oxygen machines, staff were dressing people in the dark.
The Michigan Public Service Commission is demanding that utilities explain by August how they deployed crews, how they guarded downed wires, and why their restoration estimates kept moving.
Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how her residents were affected by the outages and how she believes the utilities should be held accountable.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
