More than Halfway Done, Consumers Energy Pushes to Restore Power to Most Customers by End of Sunday
More than Halfway Done, Consumers Energy Pushes to Restore Power to Most Customers by End of Sunday
Jackson, Mich. Saturday, August 26, 2023
Community Events Planned in Grand Ledge, Manchester, Grass Lake
Joined by crews from six states, Consumers Energy is continuing its around-the-clock push to restore power to most customers affected by Thursday’s powerful storm by the end of the weekend. As of 9 p.m. Saturday, Consumers Energy has restored power to more than half of affected customers.
On Sunday, Consumers Energy also will provide free meals in the communities of Grand Ledge, Grass Lake and Manchester as a goodwill gesture to communities where damage has been particularly severe. Details of the events are available on Consumers Energy’s Facebook page.
“Over 660 crews are working across the communities we serve, making this one of the largest mobilizations Consumers Energy has ever carried out to bring the lights back on,” said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy’s Officers in Charge for the power restoration. “We are committed to our customers and working to ensure that most of them will finish the weekend with power.”
Consumers Energy has restored power to 110,000 of about 200,000 affected homes and businesses. Electric lineworkers are working 16-hour shifts to help communities recover from damage caused by three confirmed tornadoes and strong winds that gusted to as much as 90 mph.
Customers can continue to check the status of outages at 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.
Kapala continued to urge people to 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.
Consumers Energy urges the public to keep important safety tips in mind:
- Stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, and to report unguarded downed lines by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
- 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.
###
Media Contact: Brian Wheeler, 517-740-1545 or brian.wheeler@cmsenergy.com
The next news release is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 27.