Consumers Energy Expects to Restore Power to Another 100,000 More Customers Friday

A fallen tree across roadway took down power lines during storms.  Consumers Energy photo.

(August 13, 2021 11:47 AM) Consumers Energy has now restored power to more than 200,000 Michigan homes and businesses following this week’s severe weather, and crews today are continuing their around-the-clock work in communities all over the Lower Peninsula.

Consumers Energy aims to restore power to another 100,000 customers through midnight Friday. Most homes and businesses should have power by late Saturday night and almost all restoration work completed by the end of the weekend.  As of 11:45 AM today, there are 20,431 Jackson County customers without power.  The company expects that number will lower more significantly today.

“These storms hit Michigan hard, but we are working tirelessly to get our customers back up and running,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy’s vice president for electric operations. “We are grateful for our customers’ patience and want them to know we’ll keep working until the power is back on for everyone.”

Consumers Energy crews are joined by contractors from across Michigan and seven states, including as far away as Missouri, New York and Tennessee. In all, about 370,000 homes and businesses that Consumers Energy serves lost power at some point since Tuesday night, making it one of the 10 most significant storms in company history. As of 11 a.m. Friday, about 150,000 customers were still without power with almost two-thirds of those remaining outages expected to be restored by late tonight.

Consumers Energy is reaching out to communities across Michigan today, sponsoring several free community events and giveaways such as ice, water and ice cream to thank residents. Today and Saturday, Consumers Energy will cover entry costs for the first 2,500 visitors to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. Events can be found at www.Facebook.com/ConsumersEnergyMichigan. 

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 makes safety a top priority for coworkers and the public, 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.