When a Storm Damages Your Electrical Service
Southeast Michigan storms are hard on overhead wiring. Summer thunderstorms, ice storms and heavy wet snow all bring down branches, and the service drop to your house is often what they hit first.
The damage usually shows up in a few familiar ways:
- The service mast on your roof or siding is bent, pulled loose or torn off
- The meter base is ripped from the wall or the meter is hanging
- Wires are down in the yard or sagging across the driveway
- Some of the house has power and some doesn’t, or lights are unusually dim or bright
- You smell burning near the panel or meter after the storm
If you see any of these, call us for an emergency call-out. If a wire is down, report it to DTE first and keep everyone well away from it.
Safety First
Treat every downed line as live. Stay at least 20 feet away, keep children and pets indoors, and never try to move a wire, even with a stick or a broom.
Report downed lines to DTE at 800-477-4747, or call 911 if anyone is in danger. Don’t touch your panel or meter if they are wet, damaged or in standing water. We’ll make it safe when we arrive.
What Belongs to You and What Belongs to DTE
This is the part that surprises most homeowners. The utility is responsible for the wires from the pole to your house and for the meter itself.
The service mast, the weatherhead on top of it, the meter base and the wiring into your electrical panel are usually the homeowner’s responsibility. DTE won’t reconnect power to a damaged mast or meter base, so a licensed electrician has to repair it first.
That’s where we come in. We repair or replace the damaged equipment, bring it up to current code and coordinate the inspection so DTE can reconnect you as quickly as possible.
How Our Storm Damage Call-Outs Work
- You call us. Tell us what you’re seeing and whether any wires are down. We’ll tell you what’s safe to do while you wait.
- We assess the damage. Our electricians check the mast, meter base, service wires and panel, and explain exactly what needs to be repaired.
- We make the repair. We fix or replace the damaged parts to code, and we can upgrade to 200 amp service at the same time if your home needs it.
- Inspection and reconnection. We coordinate the inspection and the reconnection with DTE so you’re not stuck managing phone calls during an outage.
Storm Damage Is a Good Time to Upgrade
If your mast and meter base have to be replaced anyway, it’s often the most cost-effective moment to move from older 60 or 100 amp service to 200 amp service. The new equipment goes in once, with one inspection.
It’s also worth thinking about the next outage. A generator interlock kit lets a portable generator safely run your furnace, sump pump and fridge. A whole-house surge protector helps protect your appliances when power comes back.
Why Homeowners Call Us After a Storm
We’ve been doing electrical work in the Ann Arbor area since 1994, and our electricians are union trained through IBEW Local 252. We’re fully licensed and insured, and we know how to work with DTE to get a damaged service repaired, inspected and reconnected. When a storm hits, call us at (734) 210-7667.