Michigan utilities are focused on revenues over service, lawmakers assert “To offer people in this situation $35 to offset their losses is at best insensitive and at worst unconscionable,” Russ said.
She could afford to take the hit, but many others can’t, she told the committee. That meant she had to replace the food in her refrigerator and freezer twice, in addition to other inconveniences and expenses, Russ said. But for everyday Michiganders, the utilities' words and required reimbursements for long-term outages didn't outweigh their experiences.Ĭathleen Russ, of Royal Oak, a DTE residential customer, told the committee her power was out from Feb. While lawmakers sought to identify problems and hold the companies accountable, utilities mounted a vigorous defense of their actions. About 700,000 customers between the two providers lost power from a rare ice and freezing rain storm. The storms left hundreds of thousands without power, including some who went days without electricity during the frigid conditions.Įxecutives from DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, as well as officials from the Michigan Public Service Commission and residents affected by outages from ice and snow storms in late February and early March all testified before the Michigan House Committee on Energy, Communications and Technology. Crews will reconnect the wires to a home, but only a licensed electrician can repair or replace a mast or a cable.Ĭonsumers 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.Members of a House committee on Wednesday pressed executives from the state's two major electric utilities over the companies' response to outages from winter storms in recent weeks. In some cases, the mast that holds the electric service wires to a home or business may have been damaged or torn away.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.
POWER OUTAGE CONSUMERS ENERGY GENERATOR
Read more guidance on safe generator use here. Doing so could cause a generator to produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas.
POWER OUTAGE CONSUMERS ENERGY DRIVERS
Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they safely can go past workers on roadsides. Be alert to crews working along roads.Consumers Energy also asks the public to keep important safety tips in mind: Consumers Energy asks the public to keep a safe distance from crews. Monday.Ĭustomers can report an outage and check the status of outage by visiting 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 Curtis urged people to keep safety a top priority and stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, keep children and/or pets away, and report the issue by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 80. Those locations are being prioritized with the goal of restoring each voting location by 6 p.m. The energy provider worked with the Secretary of State’s office and local clerks to identify polling locations in its service territory affected by the storm. With midterm elections taking place tomorrow, Consumers Energy is also prioritizing restoring power to polling precincts that were impacted by the extreme weather. Our teams will continue to work as quickly and as safely as possible to get the light on for all of our customers.” “But with favorable weather today, we are confident a large majority of customers will be restored by tomorrow.
“A number of remaining outages are in some of our rural regions in northeast Michigan and they’re more dispersed, which can mean some outages will take longer to fix,” said Roger Curtis, one of Consumers Energy’s Officers in Charge for the event. Nearly 100 additional crews were added to the system this morning, and crews are expected to restore a majority of remaining customers – mainly in rural areas – before voting begins on Tuesday.
(WOOD TV8)-Consumers Energy crews have restored more than 103,000 customers as of 11 AM on Monday after wind gusts over 65 mph swept through the state and took down nearly 2,000 wires.
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