Entire Detroit Public Lighting system is down

No word yet on the cause, whether sabotage or just a mechanical issue. UPDATE: Now reporting this as a "system overload". It seems pretty widespread affecting government builds, schools, hospitals, and so on.

Detroit News

Detroit — A widespread power outage Tuesday has caused evacuations of buildings throughout the downtown, including Joe Louis Arena, Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, the Detroit Institute of Arts and some buildings at Wayne State University.

DTE Energy Co. Scott Simons said “it looks like the entire Detroit Public Lighting system is down. Affecting about 100 buildings, places like The Joe, Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, fire stations, schools. We were notified about 10:30 a.m. We’re working with them to help resolve the situation. We’ll help investigate the problem and make repairs. It’s too early yet to determine what has caused the shutdown.”

Update: System Overload CBS Detriot

No power for street lights and fire stations. Exactly what Detroit needs right now.

Attributed to “system overload,” a widespread Detroit Public Lighting outage in the summer of 2013 shut down power to WSU, the courthouse, the City-County building, and midtown museums for two days.

Now to find what stores and businesses caused the outage then loot them, set them on fire and destroy them.

Its the only logical thing to do after all.

/sarcasm

originally posted by: interupt42
Now to find what stores and businesses caused the outage then loot them, set them on fire and destroy them.

Its the only logical thing to do after all.

[sarcasm]But don't worry, all the scary guns are banned in Detroit, so everyone is completely safe.[/sarcasm]

Thought it because the city didnt pay the electric ...

Just left downtown in the nick of time. Had an appointment at the VA right in the heart of it this morning. I was wondering what was going on. People really don't have a clue how to drive without lights telling them what to do it seems.

When did we outlaw guns? LMAO

Last I heard we were an open carry state.

originally posted by: 200Plus
Just left downtown in the nick of time. Had an appointment at the VA right in the heart of it this morning. I was wondering what was going on. People really don't have a clue how to drive without lights telling them what to do it seems.

When did we outlaw guns? LMAO

Last I heard we were an open carry state.

You are correct. I am wrong.

However, open carry seems to be banned in all the places with power outages. Coincidence?
dl.dropboxusercontent.com...

IMHO this is a test to see how long it takes people to react to a situation like grid down...

This exact same thing, same area, same issue, happened in September 2013.

Here is part of the 2013 article:

Downtown Detroit was hit by a power outage at around 1 p.m. today.

Multiple buildings appear to have lost power including city hall, Detroit News is reporting. CBS Detroit reports that the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice and the People Mover in downtown Detroit have also lost power, while Local 4 News reports that some Wayne State University buildings lost power and there were reports of people stuck in elevators.

*snip*

The city's office of emergency management says they had to shut off parts of the grid to address two main power lines that surged out as a result of heat overloads.

www.businessinsider.com...

Right down to a murder trial in progress:

Local 4 News has this footage of the scene inside the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, where the former mistress of Bob Basharahad just taken the stand in a preliminary hearing in his first degree murder case.

Here's 2014 article:

Power outages swept through downtown Detroit on Tuesday morning, knocking out the lights in several major buildings including courthouses, hospitals and all city fire stations, according to numerous reports.

The outages were “caused by extreme heat, cable failure, and routine maintenance — all combining causing system overload,” Robert Warfield, spokesman for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, told CBS affilate WWJ. Most of the municipal grid is down.

All customers on the city’s lighting grid lost power around 10:30 a.m., when a major cable failed, the city’s press office told the Detroit News. “We have isolated the problem and are working to restore power as soon as possible,” the statement read.

The Detroit Free Press reports that a high-profile murder trial was interrupted when the lights went out, and people evacuated the courthouse. Kenneth King, the presiding judge in the trial, told WWJ that an unreliable power grid is a security concern. “That’s a whole different dimension in very scary proposition,” King said. “Now, because we can’t use the elevator, the deputy sheriffs have to escort the prisoners down a dark stairway.” There are also reports of people stuck in elevators.

Serious case of Deja vu ORRRRR Detroit need a major overhaul of their electric system.

a reply to: AnonymousCitizen

This happens at least once a year.....for the last 10-20 years.
Not sure why they are making this a big deal this time.

Various reasons, but always back to an aging infrastructure failing/breaking.
Gives public employees and Wayne State a day or two off.....so not good for productivity.
Not good for the parents who need to take time off to take care of their kids.

must be all those wealthy black people, and those black-owned companies who didn't pay their taxes, or all those poor, uneducated, white folks who are collecting welfare...maybe that was a little dyslexic on my part, but, hasn't Detroit been run by a republican, governor-appointed czar for the last couple of years?

Ive got some flashlights if anyone wants to borrow one, but you'l have to collect, as my powerchair only has a 5 mile range!!, all joking aside, hope they sort out soon for ya, we keep getting threats of blackouts this winter, but its not happened yet. Goodluck.

a reply to: StoutBroux

The outages were “caused by extreme heat, cable failure, and routine maintenance — all combining causing system overload,” Robert Warfield, spokesman for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, told CBS affilate WWJ. Most of the municipal grid is down.

routine maintenance

Does that mean the lack of routine maintenance is what caused the problem? Or were they performing routine maintenance when the problem occurred?

I'm just wondering if they recently hired a technician from Arizona...



dex