More than Half of 64,500 Customers Affected by High Winds, Lightning Restored

JACKSON, Mich., August 27, 2018 – Improving weather conditions have resulted in power being restored to more than half of the 64,500 customers affected by early morning’s storms as Consumers Energy plans for additional storms tonight and later Tuesday.
As of 11:30 a.m., approximately 25,000 customers remained without power across Lower Michigan. The vast majority of customers should have power restored by midnight tonight. In some of the harder hit areas in portions of western and central Michigan, it may be Tuesday evening before power is restored.

“We appreciate our customers’ patience as we’ve worked through the night to assess damage, make situations safe with dozens of downed wires and restore power to more than 40,000 customers,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations. “At the same time, we are anticipating the possibility of new outages with storms expected late Monday and during the day Tuesday and are making plans to have crews available if and when Mother Nature hits us again.”

To view specific counties and regions and estimated restoration times customers can visit www.ConsumersEnergy.com/OutageCenter.

From lineworkers to call center representatives, approximately 1,000 Consumers Energy employees and contractors are involved with the restoration effort. A series of severe thunderstorms early Monday, some with winds exceeding 60 mph, rolled across the center portion of the Lower Peninsula. More storms are expected late Monday across the state with additional severe weather late Tuesday and through Wednesday afternoon in Southern Michigan before more tranquil weather moves into the state.

Consumers Energy urges the public to keep these 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.
• Operating a generator may produce hazardous levels of carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and deadly gas. Never use a generator in an attached garage, basement or near any air intakes, and never fuel a generator when it is running.

To view specific counties and regions most affected by electric interruptions, please visit: https://www.ConsumersEnergy.com/outagemap

Customers can 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.

Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

4:30 pm Monday UPDATE:

Consumers Energy Restores Power to 52,000 Customers Today;

Crews Will Continue to Work Through the Night 

Energy Provider Prepared to Respond if Additional Storms Produce Outages 

JACKSON, Mich., August 27, 2018 – After returning power to 52,000 customers today, Consumers Energy crews will continue working overnight until the final repairs are made to restore all customers’ electric service following multiple storms that blew across Michigan Monday.

# # #

Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.