Winds sometimes in excess of 60 miles per hour blew through the state Wednesday, March 8, knocking out power to more than 300,000 Consumers Energy customers. The high winds took down 7,000 wires and broke more than 1,000 poles, according to Consumers.
As of 4 a.m. Thursday, March 9, the company said 187,000 customers were still without power. The company had restored power for more than 115,000.
In Allegan County, many remain without power (The Allegan County News is awaiting a total from the Consumers Energy media contact), mostly in Martin, Pullman and Watson townships and to a lesser extent in the Allegan, Otsego and Plainwell areas. At the peak of outages, 5,989 Consumers customers were without power in the county.
The company advised that, due to the storm’s duration and statewide impact, some customers in the worst impacted areas may not have power restored until Sunday.
“We have been working through the night and making steady progress,” said Guy Packard, vice president of energy operations. “The lighter winds make for improved working conditions for our crews. We appreciate their commitment to safety and our customers’ continued patience.”
Consumers will update its progress next at approximately 11:30 a.m. today.
From lineworkers to damage assessors, wire guards and customer service representatives, more than 2,000 people are engaged in the storm restoration effort. An additional 130 workers have arrived from utilities in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana to assist the crews in Michigan.
Customers can now 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. Customers can also report an outage, check the status of an outage and get useful tips what to do before, during and after a storm by visiting www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter.
Company officials urged the public to keep several safety tips in mind:
• Stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines and to call 911 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
• 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.
• Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement or near any air intakes, and never fuel a generator when it is running. Operating a generator without proper ventilation can create carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. If using a generator, contact a licensed electrician to ensure that it is properly connected and make certain it is isolated from the company’s electric distribution system.
• In some cases, the mast which holds the electric service wires to a customer’s 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.
To view specific counties and regions most affected by electric interruptions, visit: www.consumersenergy.com/outagemap
Consumers Energy provides natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.
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