Consumers Energy: Crews Continue Work Through Weekend

A Consumers Energy lineman works on power restoration this evening in Jackson.  Consumers Energy photo.

(August 13, 2021 10:31 PM) By tonight, Consumers Energy expects to restore power to 300,000 customers who were impacted by this week’s severe storm system, and crews will continue to work through the weekend to complete restoration efforts.

As of 10:30 PM, 20,119 Jackson County customers remain without power in these locations (with number of customers affected):

Brooklyn 5,509

Clarklake 1,280

Concord 1,453

Grass Lake 1,185

Hanover 1,130

Horton 1,303

Jackson 5,047

Parma 1,549

Rives Junction 164

Spring Arbor 521

Springport 23

“We feel good about our plan to finish restoring power to nearly all customers by the end of the weekend as 2,000 lineworkers continue working around the clock,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy’s vice president for electric operations. “We are grateful for our customers’ patience and cooperation through this storm. We’ll continue to reach out to communities this weekend and host family-fun activities and events to offer a small token of our appreciation.”

The company recognizes storms like this have significant impact beyond electric outages and has worked directly with communities across the state to provide necessary resources and even a little fun, including covering entry costs for the first 2,500 visitors to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek today and tomorrow.

All community events can be found at www.Facebook.com/ConsumersEnergyMichigan.

More than 550 crews will continue to work 16-hour shifts, including contractors from across Michigan and seven states, to finish restoring power to all 370,000 homes and businesses Consumers Energy serves that lost power since Tuesday night. Most homes and businesses should have power by late Saturday night, and almost all restoration work is expected to be completed by the end of the weekend.

This storm was one of the 10 most significant storms in company history.

Customers can check the progress crews are making to restore power by visiting www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter. They can also sign up to get outage alerts and restoration times sent to a phone, email or text message — text ‘REG’ to 232273 or visit www.ConsumersEnergy.com/alerts.

Consumers Energy reminds everyone to stay focused on safety, and is offering these tips:

• If traffic lights are out, treat them as a four way stop and use caution moving through intersections.
• Be aware of possible downed wires. Report them to 9-1-1 or Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050 immediately while staying at least 25 feet away.
  • If you’ve already reported a downed wire, we appreciate your patience as we work hard to safely secure the remaining incidents. More than 6,000 downed wires have been reported since Tuesday.
• Be alert to crews working along roads. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they safely can go past workers on roadsides.
• Call 2-1-1 to connect with resources that offer assistance in your community, such as cooling centers or other needs. 2-1-1 is a free statewide service.
• Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement, enclosed patio or near any air intakes. Doing so could cause a generator to produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas.
• Consumers Energy will trim or remove trees interfering with electric restoration activities. Once safe to do so, clean-up of debris from tree trimming or removal during a storm emergency is the responsibility of individual property owners.
• In some cases, the mast which holds the electric service wires to a customer’s home or business may have been damaged or torn away. Crews will reconnect the wires to a home, but only a licensed electrician can repair or replace a mast or a cable.