‘Utility redlining’: Detroit power outages disproportionally hit minority and low-income areas

Thunderstorms have resulted in flooding and power outages in Detroit, and low-income and minority residents bear the brunt of the effects. Photograph: Max Ortiz/AP

In late August, strong thunderstorms rolled through metro Detroit, knocking out power for six days at Marlene Harris-Bady’s Highland Park home. It was the second long outage that month in the largely low-income neighborhood, and Harris-Bady said she and her husband endure similar outages about five times annually.

“It’s always a big mess and this has been going on for years,” Harris-Bady said, adding that DTE Energy, the private utility serving the area, always tells her the problem is with a nearby transformer. A few miles away, in a wealthier suburb, Harris-Bady’s sister lost power during the August storm for only a few hours, and rarely endures long outages.