News Release

Consumers Energy Crews Restoring Power After High Winds Blow Across Michigan

Jackson, Mich. Monday, February 25, 2019

About 1,600 Employees, Workers from Three Other States Take Part in Storm Effort 

Crews from Consumers Energy and from three other states are working to restore power to 50,000 Michigan homes and businesses following winds that reached 60 mph swept across Michigan. Since Sunday morning, about 110,000 customers have been impacted by weather-related outages.

“Mother Nature has caused challenges for our state, delivering winds that knocked down trees and damaged equipment. We are working as fast as we can to safely bring back power to the customers we serve,” said Tim Sparks, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric grid integration. “We thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we continue our work to restore power.”

Over 1,600 people are involved to serve customers affected by the storm, from electric lineworkers to customer care representatives. Consumers Energy crews are joined by workers from Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Consumers Energy crews are assessing damage from Sunday’s storm and making repairs to power lines, poles and equipment. Crews expect to restore power to a significant number of customers by 11:30 p.m. Monday. Crews may work into Tuesday evening to finish restoration work in the hardest hit areas.

Customers can also report an outage, check the status of an outage and get useful tips what to do after a storm by visiting www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter. They also can 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 urges the public to keep safety tips in mind:

• Be aware of the potential for downed electric lines. If you see a downed wire, stay at least 25 feet away and report it by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
• Call 2-1-1 if you are looking for help connecting to temporary shelter or other 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.
• Be alert to utility 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.
• 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.

Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

Media Contacts: Terry DeDoes, 517-243-9908, or Roger Morgenstern, 517-499-6320