Consumers Energy Restoration at 95%

(August 28, 2023 10:32 PM ET) Favorable weather conditions today helped Consumers Energy make considerable progress on restoring power for Michigan following last week’s devastating storm that caused about 200,000 outages.

A record number of Consumers Energy crews ― including crews from six states ― have restored power to more than 95 percent of the homes and businesses left in the dark after winds reaching 90 miles per hour and tornadoes caused damage from Grand Rapids to Southeast Michigan.

Fewer than 11,000 customers remained without power this evening and company leaders vowed to get the job done ― as safely and as quickly as possible.  As of 10:30 PM, all but 1,418 Jackson County customers have had power restored.

“We’ve got 800 crews running 24/7 to make sure we’re restoring our customers,” said Chris Laird, one of Consumers Energy’s Officers in Charge for the storm. “We apologize for the delay in getting the power back on and will not leave until every last community is restored.”

Hear more from Laird and fellow officer Greg Salisbury, who met with reporters earlier today.

Consumers Energy’s efforts are focused now on communities hit hardest by the storm, including parts of Ingham, Eaton, Ionia and Jackson counties. About 3,000 employees and contractors are working around-the-clock to restore power.

Customers can report an outage and check the status of outage 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.

Laird urged people to stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, keep children and pets away, and report the issue by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy also asks the public to keep a safe distance from crews.

Consumers Energy urges the public to keep important safety tips in mind:

·       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.

·       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. Read more guidance on safe generator use here.

·       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 that holds the electric service wires to a 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.