Consumers Energy on Track to Restore Nearly All Customers by Wednesday Night

JACKSON, Mich. Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Consumers Energy hosting community events in hardest hit areas on Wednesday

With favorable weather conditions expected today, Consumers Energy expects to have the lights back on for nearly all the188,000-plus customers impacted by Monday’s severe thunderstorms.

More than 400 crews have restored electricity for more than146,000 customers and are working today to safely bring back power for the remainder of those experiencing outages. Some work will continue into Thursday in communities most badly damaged by Monday’s nearly 70 mph winds.

“As we approach the 80% of customers restored mark, we want to thank our customers for their patience and cooperation. We understand power outages are frustrating and want customers to know we are working tirelessly to complete our work as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Amanda Wagenschutz, one of Consumers Energy’s Officers in Charge for the storm restoration work.

To support customers affected by the storm, Consumers Energy today is providing water and ice to people in Jackson from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and ice cream to Battle Creek residents from 4 to 6 p.m. The public can learn more on Consumers Energy’s Facebook page: Facebook.com/ConsumersEnergyMichigan.

Wagenschutz also encouraged the public to continue looking out for potentially deadly downed power lines. Wagenschutz 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. Consumers Energy urges the public to also keep these 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.

Consumers Energy is Michigan’s largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

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

The next news release is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

For more information about Consumers Energy, go to ConsumersEnergy.com.