Continues Restoration Efforts
JACKSON, Mich., April 2, 2025 – Consumers Energy crews are focusing now on the final and most complicated restorations left after another storm system made its way through the state this afternoon and evening, resulting in approximately 40,000 additional customers losing power due to high winds and falling debris.

A message from Bretton, one of our co-workers in the field.

This was the latest wave of severe weather in series of intermittent storms, spanning five days and impacting hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses, to pass through the state. Of the more than 320,000 customers impacted by the storm events, more than 85 percent have already been restored.

“There is no question the last five days have been deeply challenging for our customers and our lineworkers alike,” said Chris Fultz, one of Consumers Energy’s Officers in Charge of restoration. “Yet even as our co-workers continue encountering new problems in the field, their resiliency and determination has allowed us to stay focused and efficient during this restoration process. We’re grateful to them for their incredible dedication, and to our customers for their understanding and patience.”

Consumers Energy is working with local first responders and law enforcement in Crawford, Otsego, Oscoda and Alcona counties to provide free water throughout the day tomorrow to customers impacted by the storms. 

The restoration efforts are broken down into two distinct categories:

• Northern Michigan: Consumers Energy has restored about 75 percent of the 97,000 customers who lost power due to the initial ice storms, with plans for the majority of customers in the region to be restored by the end of the day Friday.

• Southern Michigan: Consumers Energy has restored about 90 percent of the almost 223,000 customers who lost power between the high winds and severe thunderstorms that impacted the region Sunday and Wednesday afternoons.

Consumers Energy urges the public to keep important safety tips in mind:

• Be alert to crews working along the roads. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they can go safely past workers on roadsides.
• Stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, and to report unguarded downed lines by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050.
• 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.
• Residents can also utilize the Michigan 211 website for the most up to date information on warming shelters in their area.

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. Consumers Energy knows job No. 1 is to keep the lights on for customers. We are committed to delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to our customers 24/7.

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