News Release

Consumers Energy Making Significant Progress in Restoring Power to Michiganders in Wake of Historic Storms

Jackson, Mich. Thursday, August 12, 2021

Energy Provider Aims to Restore 100,000 Customers in Next 24 Hours

With crews from seven states now working in Michigan, Consumers Energy is making progress Thursday in restoring power to over 350,000 homes and businesses affected by intense storms that moved across the state this week.

Since the storm system first hit on Tuesday night, the energy provider has restored 110,000 customers over the last 24 hours and expects to restore power to another 100,000 customers in the next 24 hours, speeding up the response to one of the 10 largest storms in company history.

“We’re working tirelessly and safely to bring the lights back on for our friends and neighbors,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy’s vice president for electric operations.

“We continue to be grateful for the patience of our and the help of crews from across the country. We have over 550 crews from Michigan and seven states working around the clock today, and we are confident we can make significant progress to restore power.”

In addition to Consumers Energy crews and others from Michigan, lineworkers today are joining the effort from seven states, including New York, Tennessee and Missouri. Restoration work is expected to extend through the weekend.

About 240,000 Consumers Energy customers were without power as of 10:30 a.m. today.

Customers can report an outage and check the status of outage by visiting www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter. Customers 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 continues to urge people to remember these safety tips:

• Those clearing storm debris are advised to be aware of possible downed wires and report them to 9-1-1 or Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050 immediately while staying at least 25 feet away. The storms generated more than 4,500 reports of downed wires.
• 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, 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.

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Media Contacts: Josh Paciorek, 517-243-9036, or Terry DeDoes, 517-243-9908

The next news release is scheduled for approximately 5 p.m.