08/04/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/05/2022 17:31
Jackson, Mich. Thursday, August 04, 2022
Consumers Energy crews are ready to continue working through the night after restoring power to three-fourths of Michigan homes and businesses affected by a major summer storm this week. Over 230 crews have now restored power to about 66,000 customers.
"We are grateful for the patience of our customers who count on us, and we want to reward that patience by working around the clock until we restore power to everyone," said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy's officer in charge for today's power restoration work. "Our crews are committed to the final stretch of the work from this storm and plan to finish the job Friday."
More than 88,000 Consumers Energy customers have been affected by this week's weather, featuring wind gusts that reached 60 mph. As of 9:30 p.m., about 22,000 were without power.
On Friday, Consumers Energy will thank residents of Otsego and surrounding Kalamazoo County communities with free ice cream. Customers are invited to stop by Dairy Freeze on M-89 in Otsego from 1-3 p.m. for a free medium ice cream cone or scoop.
"We can't say enough about the kindness that people show our lineworkers as they get the lights back on," Packard said. "We host community events like this to say thank you to our friends and neighbors as they wait for our crews to complete their challenging work."
Customers can report an outage and check the status of outage by visiting 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.
Packard urged people to 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 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy asks the public to keep a safe distance from crews.
Consumers Energy also asks the public to keep important safety tips in mind:
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 should call 1-800-557-4625 to reach a Consumers Energy Media Relations representative 24/7.