GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — While customers have continued to have their power restored from last week’s ice storm, many have also lost power due to Monday’s storm. FOX 17 recently spoke to Josh Paciorek, West Michigan media relations specialist and spokesman for Consumers Energy, about how the company is dealing with the outages from two ice storms.
According to Paciorek, customers who are still without power in the southern counties should be almost fully restored by midnight on Tuesday.
In response to the outages from last week's storm, Consumers Energy added multiple crew members from other states to work on restoring power. “We have 600 crews there from Consumers Energy and four other states that are working on finishing those restoration efforts in Southern Michigan,” said Paciorek.
However, Consumers Energy must also deal with power outages from Monday’s ice storm. On Monday, there were outages north of Grand Rapids in Montcalm and Newaygo. “There’s about 50,000-60,000 customers in those areas who are currently without power,” said Paciorek. Some crews have been moved to evaluating and assessing the damage from Monday’s ice storm, and started working on restoration efforts.”
Consumers Energy also provides multiple resources for customers on information on outages. The company’s website provides up-to-date information on outages in neighborhoods and communities. They also send text and email alerts to keep customers updated.
Paciorek said that when there’s a power outage, it’s important to check in on friends and neighbors. “We are in the midst of February, the temperatures are cooler. For folks without power, especially in those southern areas that are still waiting to get power back on, check in on friends and neighbors, especially senior citizens. Make sure that they’re okay,” said Paciorek.
Another resource is 211, which lists warming shelters, and can help with food assistance, as well as other forms of assistance. It is a free service provided by United Way. “They are a wonderful tool that we work closely with to provide resources to the community,” said Paciorek.
Consumers Energy customers experiencing outages can also be compensated. The company follows the rules set with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The criteria to be eligible is to go 120 hours or five days of a power outage in a catastrophic storm. More information on outage credit can be found on the company’s website.
“I know how much of a hardship and how frustrating these outages can be,” said Paciorek. “So we just want to express how grateful we are for our customers’ continued patience and continued understanding as these crews work 16-hour shifts and try to restore the power and clean up the damage as fast as possible.”
