GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Consumers Energy utility workers are working around-the-clock to restore power to tens of thousands of customers before Christmas, however, many in West Michigan may not see service turned back on until Friday.
The following is the 9:30pm update sent to media outlets Monday:
With additional crews arriving by the hour, Consumers Energy and its fellow utility workers from across the country are progressing on restoration work from this weekend’s ice storm.
“We expect to have all the out-of-state crews working on our system Wednesday and many have already begun arriving,” said Mary Palkovich, Consumers Energy’s vice president of energy delivery. “We appreciate the outside assistance we are receiving and our customer’s continued patience as we go about this challenging task in a safe manner.”
More than 1,500 Consumers Energy and contractor office and field employees are dedicated to power restoration work currently. The crews from 11 states and Washington, D.C. are adding another 1,000 men and women to those ranks.
As of 9:30 p.m., approximately 183,000 customers were without power. In all, the storm caused more than 303,000 outages.
As of 9:30 p.m., areas most affected by electric interruptions were: Allegan (3,326); Barry (17,545); Calhoun (9,690); Clinton (9,274); Eaton (16,097); Genesee (65,479); Gratiot (3,334); Ingham (16,094); Ionia (4,962); Kalamazoo (4,922); Kent (6,083); Livingston (3,636); Oakland (3,591) and Shiawassee (20,246).
Currently, the estimated power restoration schedule for the hardest hit areas is:
Tuesday: Saginaw County;
Wednesday: Allegan, Ionia, Gratiot, eastern Kent, northern Kent and Montcalm counties;
Thursday: Kalamazoo County, western Kent County and greater Grand Rapids;
Friday: Barry, Calhoun and Shiawassee counties;
Saturday: Some portions of Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Ingham, Livingston, Oakland and Ottawa counties.
