Consumers Energy Urges Residents to Focus on Safety during Restoration Efforts

Crews work on repairing downed lines.  Consumers Energy photo.

(August 30, 2022 5:15 PM) As crews continue working around the clock to restore public safety and electric service to customers, Consumers Energy reminds all Michiganders to focus on staying safe following damaging storms.

“Storms with wind gusts of nearly 70 mph like the one that swept through our state yesterday evening knock down trees, limbs and power lines,” said Amanda Wagenschutz, one of Consumers Energy’s Officers in Charge for the storm event. “We experienced more than 2,000 downed wires throughout Consumers Energy’s service territory. We urge everyone who is outside to be on the lookout for downed wires and to stay at least 25 feet away from the lines.”

Wagenschutz says safety is the energy provider’s number one priority during a restoration period and reminds everyone that downed power lines can be deadly. She 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.

It’s also important to stay away from anything a downed power line is touching, such as water, vehicles, fences, and anything metal.

Consumers Energy crews continue to make progress on restoration efforts on Tuesday. Consumers crews have restored nearly 75,000 customers and more than 350 crews are working in the field today with a goal of restoring more than half of the roughly 175,000 impacted customers.  18,498 customers in Jackson County remain without power as of 5:15 PM today.

Consumers Energy urges the public to also keep these other 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.
• Call 2-1-1 if you are looking for help connecting to resources that offer assistance in your community. 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. 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.

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.