GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Consumers Energy is working to prevent power outages in the state. The Michigan Public Service Commission recently approved a proposal to bury 10.3 miles of overhead powerlines within the next year.
The lines were identified in areas with frequent outages and dense trees. They cover areas in Genesee, Livingston, Allegan, Ottawa, Montcalm and Iosco Counties.
"This will eliminate power outages in those areas," said Greg Salisbury, vice president of electric distribution engineering for Consumers Energy. "It's going to be really exciting for those people."
During the construction, Salisbury said homeowners should not feel the effects much from burying the lines.
"We will go through and add the new cable underground, and then there'll be a brief outage when we cut over from the above ground to the underground," said Salisbury. "So, those customers in those 10.3 miles will have just a small outage and we'll tell them in advance."
This is part of Consumers Energy's Reliability Road Map, a five year plan that also calls for more than 1,000 miles of lines to be buried in the next five years.
"We spend over $100 million a year trimming trees and dealing with outages there," said Salisbury.
Salisbury said Consumers Energy is also trimming 7,000 miles of trees, installing new, larger grade poles, conductors and cross arms, and modernizing the grid to prevent failure.
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