Consumers Energy in Final Stretch to Restore Power for Customers Affected by Tornado Damage in SW Michigan
Consumers Energy in Final Stretch to Restore Power for Customers Affected by Tornado Damage in SW Michigan
Portage, Mich. Wednesday, May 08, 2024
Consumers Energy is taking its final steps this evening to restore power to thousands of customers after tornadoes swept through Kalamazoo, Branch and St. Joseph counties Tuesday night, leaving debris and downed wires in their wake. To aid in the final push to restore all customers, the company has brought in a flex truck, which can extend further than normal line trucks to clear debris, and two cranes.
“We are quite literally working from top to bottom to get the power for every customer impacted by these tornadoes restored as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Chris Laird, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations. “As residents continue to assess the damage to their homes and businesses, our singular aim is to get the lights back on for them so they have one fewer issue to worry about. We have crews scheduled to work around the clock until we have the lights back on in these regions.”
Consumers Energy has established a Mobile Command Center in Kalamazoo, and more than 175 crews are working around the clock, in 16-hour shifts, to bring power back as quickly and safely as possible.
Tuesday’s storms initially left more than 30,000 customers without power, about one third of which are now restored. The damage included portions of Consumers Energy’s natural gas system in the Kalamazoo area, and the company is working with local emergency responders to make repairs and safely restore gas service.
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.
Consumers Energy urges 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 can go safely past workers on roadsides.
- 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.
- 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: Tracy Wimmer, 517-539-4465 or tracy.wimmer@cmsenergy.com