DTE Energy Co. said it is ramping staffing throughout Greater Detroit and other heavily populated markets in Michigan to minimize the impacts of severe weather following a harrowing spate of storms that resulted in widespread power outages.

DTE Energy

DTE CEO Gerardo Norcia, speaking with analysts on an earnings call last week, said customers in its Michigan footprint endured 12 substantial storms over the summer months – and five of them each caused more than 100,000 outages.

It was “unprecedented in the company’s history in terms of collective storm size and customer impact,” Norcia said. He added the company would invest an additional $70 million in tree trimming programs from 2021 to 2023, expanding its workforce from 1,200 to nearly 1,500. More than two-thirds of the...