Working with the University of Michigan and regional sources, the Detroit Regional Chamber (Lansing, Michigan, U.S.) has estimated financial loss to the Detroit, Michigan, region resulting from the August 2003 power blackout will reach US$220 million.

The Detroit Regional Chamber collaborated with senior researcher Donald R. Grimes of the University of Michigan's Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, who created an estimate of the overall impact of the blackout on the Detroit region's economy.

The Detroit Regional Chamber believes the $220 million figure is the most accurate estimate available for the region. Components of the estimate include: lost wages in private service-producing industries; lost perishable business inventories; household food losses; losses to eating establishments affected by the water ban; and direct losses to county governments.

Information from the U.S. Census Bureau and Michigan's Office of Labor Market Information was used to model the affected residential and business populations, while data from DTE Energy, county governments and the Detroit Regional Chamber's membership base were used to assess the duration and severity of the power loss and water service interruption.

Since the blackout, the chamber has been surveying its members via personal phone calls and faxes to determine individual losses. In addition, the chamber has been working with the counties to determine aggregate losses for the entire 10-county region.