Consumers Energy Crews to Restore Power Through the Night after Wind Gusts Whip Across Michigan

Jackson, Mich. Friday, April 12, 2024

Over 200 Consumers Energy and contractor crews will be working through the night into Saturday after a storm with 55 mph wind gusts affected 71,000 homes and businesses across the state. Crews have restored power to over one third of those customers.

“Today’s storm was notable because it brought powerful gusts that lasted for several hours across dozens of counties that we serve,” said Greg Salisbury, Consumers Energy’s officer in charge for this storm. “We prepared by putting crews on rest through the day, readying them for 16-hour shifts that will allow us to restore power while many of our customers sleep tonight.”

Consumers Energy is working to restore power to almost all customers by the end of the day Saturday. The company’s Reliability Roadmap has set a long-term goal to return power to all customers after all storms in 24 hours.

“It’s not lost on us that outages from major storms can be a hardship for families, communities and businesses that count on us 24/7,” Salisbury said. “That’s why we’re pouring our resources into restoring power to everyone affected by today’s storm as quickly and safely as possible. We are grateful for people’s patience.”

Customers can 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.

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. Consumers Energy reminds people that falsely calling in downed lines actually slows down the restoration process for everyone.
• Be alert to crews working along roads. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they can go safely 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, cleanup 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 6.8 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, or brian.wheeler@cmsenergy.com

The next news release will be sent by 11:30 a.m. Saturday.