In early 1889, local residents created the Wyandotte Municipal Water Utility to provide fire protection and have a convenient safe source of drinking water. Today, the municipal water utility serves over 12,000 consumers, has annual revenues of over 3.5 million and sells over 1.5 billion gallons of water annually.
Wyandotte is the only downriver community that owns and operates a potable water filtration plant. The Wyandotte Municipal Water Plant can produce up to 15 million gallons of water per day. The community's water source is the Detroit River and the treatment process consists of:
- Screen or remove debris
- Add alum for coagulation of suspended particles
- Add chlorine for disinfection
- Add phosphate for stabilization
- Remove all suspended particles through filtration
- Add fluoride to prevent tooth decay
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) require the annual production of a Water Quality Assurance Report to show how our water is continually kept in compliance and an excellent source of fresh water for our residents.
Our water distribution system consists of 110 miles of water mains ranging from 4 inches to 30 inches in diameter. Fire protection is provided by over 850 fire hydrants located throughout the community. The municipal water system has a 500,000 gallon elevated storage tank (water tower) and 4.5 million gallons of ground level storage for peak demand periods such as fighting fires or other emergencies.
The Wyandotte Electric Light Company was incorporated on September 19, 1889, for the purpose of manufacturing and supplying electricity for light, heat and power.
In 1892, local residents voted to create a community owned municipal electric utility, which initially provided only street lighting. In 1896, the municipal electric utility began serving retail consumers and for a number of years the municipal electric utility and the Wyandotte Electric Light Company competed locally for consumers.
Today, Wyandotte's municipal electric utility is one of 41 public power systems in Michigan, and one of nearly 2,000 public power systems in the United States. It serves over 12,000 consumers.
Our municipal electric system has three sources of supply to provide reliable, affordable service. Our electric distribution system consists of 69,000-volt transmission lines and 13,200-volt and 4,800-volt distribution lines. The municipal electric utility also installs, maintains and provides electricity for streetlights throughout the community without additional charge.
Wyandotte having its own electric distribution gives our residents a great advantage when power outages occur. The time to bring our power back online is considerably less than in neighboring communities served by other public power utilities. Reliability is our number one priority.
All you have to do is ask any Wyandotte citizen about the reliability of Wyandotte electric and you’ll generally get the response that there is no better provider of electric services.
Cable - Internet - Phone
The Wyandotte Municipal Services telecommunications utility was created by local residents in 1981 when voters demonstrated their confidence in the department’s ability by approving an ordinance to place the implementation, construction and operation of the new cable television system under the auspices of the Municipal Service department.
In 1983 the department installed the cable infrastructure throughout the city and began offering basic cable television services. Since 1983 we have developed the limited basic cable television system into a full broadband telecommunications system offering a wide selection of cable television services from Digital to High Definition programming to VOD (Video on Demand) as well as Turbo High Speed Broadband Internet & Digital Phone services. In 1999 the cable infrastructure was rebuilt and upgrades to existing services, enhancements and additional service offerings are continually being introduced. Today the telecommunications utility serves approximately 6,000 cable television subscribers, 5,500 high-speed internet subscribers and 1,100 Digital Phone subscribers with annual revenues of approximately $10 million dollars.
Wyandotte Municipal Services telecommunications system (Wyandotte Cable) offers competitive television programming selections, Turbo High Speed internet packages and residential and business digital phone service with unlimited local & long distance calling, all with state of the art technology and outstanding customer service.
The utility contributes five percent of its gross revenue to the city’s general fund and supports a cable television studio where public access, local access and government programming is produced. In 1999 the municipal telecommunications system was completely rebuilt and consists of 25 linear miles of fiber-optic lines, over 3,000 strand miles of fiber-optic lines and 72 miles of coaxial cable.
Technology and advanced equipment upgrades are continually being implemented. In 2015/2016 Wyandotte Cable continued work on its systems by eliminating analog services, upgrading via new equipment replacement virtually all the processing (head end) equipment and converting to the preferred all digital technology formats. This allowed for the addition of many more HD (High Definition) channels, launch of online access to video programming services and the ability to upgrade internet speeds significantly. Look for those upgrades to continue with even faster internet speeds and greater bandwidth capacity, additional television programming and other service enhancements that our customers have come to expect that we will provide.
Wyandotte Municipal Service Commission
The Wyandotte Municipal Service Commission can trace its history to 1889 when city council appointed a board of water commissioners to oversee the construction and operation of the municipal water system. When voters created the municipal electric utility in 1892, its operations were placed under city council's oversight. In 1896, a board of public works was established and the municipal electric and water utilities were placed under its direction. Local residents approved a new city charter in 1926 that replaced the board of public works with the Municipal Service Commission.
The Wyandotte Municipal Service Commission consists of five local residents appointed to five-year terms by the Mayor and confirmed by City Council. Commissioners serve without compensation. The Municipal Service Commission develops Wyandotte Municipal Services' strategic direction and approves policies, purchases and rates.
The Commission meets every two weeks on the second floor of Wyandotte Municipal Services' office at 3200 Biddle Avenue. Commission meetings are open to the public and are broadcast on the municipal cable television system for the convenience of local residents.
Member