GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After severe storms with winds up to 60 mph tore through West Michigan overnight, Consumers Energy got busy restoring power to over 30,000 statewide.
The company expects to bring power back to all of the remaining 81,000 affected customers by 6 p.m. Monday.
Less than 50,000 customers were without power as of 11:30 a.m. in Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon counties, Consumers Energy said.
Almost 200 energy crews are currently working to assess damage and fix outages in 48 counties in the lower peninsula of the state.
“Consumers Energy prepared for this nasty weather, and our crews will be responding all day today,” said Roger Curtis, Consumers Energy’s officer in charge for today’s power restoration work.
“We appreciate the patience of our friends and neighbors, and we are committed to working around the clock to get the lights back on for everyone who counts on us as quickly as we can.”
You can report an outage and check the estimated time of power restoration for your area here.
“We are committed to working quickly and safely, and we are mindful that more wind and rain today can affect our crews’ work,” Curtis said. “Our crews may be slowed in some cases, but we won’t be deterred as we provide a world-class response for everyone we serve.”
Consumers Energy asks you to keep these 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 safely can go past workers on roadsides.
- Call 2-1-1 if you are looking for help connecting to resources that offer assistance in your community. 2-1-1 is a free statewide service.
- 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, clean-up 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.
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