DTE continues working to restore power after last week's storms - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

From stores to neighborhoods, it's been a long week.  The lights went out a day before the Fourth of July leaving fireworks as the only things to light up the night sky.

"I've been working 16 hours pretty much every day," said Delmar Batchelor.

Guys like Batchelor from DTE Energy have had the tough job of not only fixing the wires in the air, but he's been taking the heat on the ground.  What's taking so long?  That's what neighbors are asking.

"We've been getting the job done and guys [have] been really [dedicated], coming in and being away from their family," he said.

As soon as Batchelor could fix one problem, another storm followed July 5 turning the air conditioning and lights off again for days.  At its peak, over 300,000 people were in the dark.

130 jobs had DTE working to restore close to 5,000 homes and businesses as of Monday afternoon.  The issue, whether 200 people or 30 without power, the workload is the same.

One of the most frustrating parts for businesses and people is when some people have power and others don't.  For instance, the 7-Eleven on Nine Mile in Ferndale has been out of juice for days whereas the Dairy Queen across the street is serving up cool treats and taking advantage of the outage.  So what gives?  DTE says there's an explanation for that.

"It is entirely possible that one side of the street, for example, would be fed from one circuit and the other side of the street is fed by a different circuit, and so it's the electric feed to each home, to each particular area," said DTE spokesperson Nanette Depriest.

DTE is also stressing that its not just the people you see out on the lines that are visible.  There are people who are working underground trying to repair some of the infrastructure to bring the lights back on to your house or store.