Consumers Energy’s Community Focused Infrastructure Investments Lead to Better Storm Response in the Bay Region since 2023

Midland, Mich. Monday, October 19, 2026

Bay region customers are seeing faster restoration after catastrophic storms. Following the July 2026 storm, Consumers Energy restored power to more than 93% of affected customers within 24 hours, its strongest 24-hour Bay region performance among eight catastrophic storms analyzed from 2023 through July 2026 and a notable improvement over a comparable 2023 storm.

The Bay region includes the Alma, Bay City, Clare, Flint, Midland, Saginaw, and Tawas territories. The clearest improvement in the eight storms analyzed appears in the first 24 hours: for storms of nearly the same scale, the share of customers restored within 24 hours increased from nearly 81% in February–March 2023 to over 93% in July 2026.

“We know our customers expect reliable power and faster restoration when storms occur. These results demonstrate that our investments are making a difference, and we’ll continue strengthening the grid through our Reliability Roadmap to deliver even better reliability for the communities we serve,” said Greg Salisbury, senior vice president of electric distribution for Consumers Energy.

The specific storm-by-storm results broken down below highlight even more notable restoration gains since 2023, supported by Consumers Energy’s more proactive tree trimming, installation of stronger poles and equipment, expanded use of technology, advanced weather forecasting, and strategic pre-staging of crews and resources.

February–March 2023: The Bay region had 24,055 customers lose power due to winter storms, with nearly 81% of customers restored within 24 hours and over 97% within 48 hours.

June 2024: The Bay region had 25,878 customers experience outages, with over 83% of customers restored within 24 hours and nearly all within 48 hours - improving on both restoration measures compared with February–March 2023 despite slightly more interruptions.

July 2026: With 25,490 customers losing power, about the same scale as the February–March 2023 storm - Consumers Energy restored over 93% of customers within 24 hours and over 98% within 48 hours in the Bay region. The 24-hour result was 12% higher than in February–March 2023 and was the strongest Bay region 24-hour performance among the eight storms analyzed.

Statewide results also demonstrate stronger restoration performance:

February–March 2023: The storm caused 418,017 customers to experience outages, with over 54% restored within 24 hours and over 73% within 48 hours.

June 2024: Of 195,591 customers who experienced outages statewide, three-quarters were restored within 24 hours and 96% within 48 hours.

March 2026: Despite 350,827 customers losing power, Consumers Energy restored over 80% within 24 hours and over 89% within 48 hours - the strongest 24-hour statewide result among the eight storms analyzed.

“At the end of the day, keeping the lights on is job #1 for us,” Salisbury added. “We’ll continue to look for ways to utilize all the resources at our disposal to affirm that commitment.”

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Media Contact: Matt Johnson, 517-888-1539 or matt.f.johnson@cmsenergy.com