Consumers Energy Crews Working Through Night to Finish Storm Repairs

Jackson, Mich. Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Having restored more than 52,000 customers following a fast-moving storm with heavy rains and 60 mph winds that crossed Michigan yesterday evening, Consumers Energy crews are continuing restoration efforts through tonight.

“By the end of tonight we expect to have restored a majority of the 79,000 customers impacted by this most recent damaging thunderstorm,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy’s vice president for electric operations. “We greatly appreciate the patience our customers have demonstrated. We have been committed since the beginning of this storm to safely and quickly restore power for our customers.”

More than 500 lineworkers are working 16-hour shifts around the clock to get the lights back on safely and as quickly as possible. Consumers Energy expects to restore most customers impacted by Tuesday’s storm by the end of today. Additional storms could extend restoration times.

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.

Packard urged people to stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, keep children or pets away, and report the issue by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy asks the public to keep a safe distance from crews due to health precautions and to allow them to do their work.

Consumers Energy also asks 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.
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.
A portable generator should be placed at least 25 feet away from any doors, windows or fresh air intakes. Never operate a generator inside your home, garage, basement or enclosed area. Doing so could cause a generator to produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. Proper ventilation is critical.
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 Katie Carey, 517-740-1739

This is the last news release for this storm.