Consumers Energy Offers More Community Events as Crews Continue Round-the-Clock Restoration after Ice Storm
Consumers Energy Offers More Community Events as Crews Continue Round-the-Clock Restoration after Ice Storm
JACKSON, Mich. Saturday, February 25, 2023
Consumers Energy will be thanking customers with free events in Kalamazoo, Jackson and Hillsdale counties on Sunday as 600 crews continue their all-hands-on-deck effort to restore power after this week’s powerful ice storm. Crews have restored power to 155,000 homes and businesses.
“The Michiganders we serve have shown incredible resilience these last few days. It’s an honor to serve them, and our crews are working as quickly and safely as they can to get the lights back on in communities hit hardest by this storm,” said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy’s officers in charge for the event. “These events are tokens of our appreciation for our customers’ patience and understanding, and we can’t wait to show our gratitude to people in person.”
VIDEO: Consumers Energy’s president and CEO talks about storm restoration
On Sunday, Consumers Energy is providing the following:
- A community breakfast at the Gene Davis and Sons Banquet Center in Jackson from 8 to 11 a.m.
- Free admission to the Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Center in Portage, starting at noon. Tickets will be provided to the first 400 general guests.
- A free hot breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. at the American Legion Post #360 in Reading.
- A free lunch at the Walmart Supercenter in Jonesville from noon to 2:30 p.m.
About 2,000 lineworkers from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Virginia are continuing to restore power across southern Michigan communities that were blanketed with up to a half-inch of ice. The majority of affected customers should have power back by Sunday, while restoration work will continue and be largely complete by the end of the day Monday.
Kapala urged customers to call 2-1-1, a free statewide service, if they are looking for help connecting to resources that offer assistance in their community, including warming centers.
Customers 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. People who don’t sign up for alerts can report and check on the status of outages at www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter. Estimated restoration times can vary based on damage assessments and changing weather conditions.
Consumers Energy urges the public to keep important safety tips in mind:
- Watch for downed wires. People should always stay at least 25 feet away from a downed wire, keep children and pets away, and report the issue by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
- 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.
- 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.
Consumers Energy is Michigan’s largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.
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Media Contact: Brian Wheeler, 517-740-1545
The next news release is scheduled for 6:30 a.m. Sunday, February 26.
For more information about Consumers Energy, go to ConsumersEnergy.com.