Consumers Energy Narrowing in on Restoration Following Powerful Storms

Consumers Energy Narrowing in on Restoration Following Powerful Storms

Jackson, Mich. Friday, September 04, 2026

Consumers Energy crews made significant progress Friday, restoring power to about 80% of customers after two rounds of powerful storms moved across the company's service territory over the last 24 hours. As of 12:00 p.m., crews restored approximately 41,000 of the 51,000 customers impacted by this weather event.

Consumers Energy has hundreds of crews working the hardest hit areas of the storm including Ingham, Shiawassee, and Monroe counties. The company also deployed a mobile command center to Okemos to help coordinate response efforts in the area.

"Thanks to targeted investments in vegetation management, stronger poles and equipment, grid automation, advanced weather forecasting, and the strategic pre-staging of crews and resources, we have been able to accelerate progress to keep the lights on for a majority of our customers going into the holiday weekend," said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy's officers in charge of storm response.

Over 90% of affected customers were restored within 8 hours Thursday and 97% were restored in 12 hours. Most remaining customers are expected to have power restored Friday night with the hardest hit areas to be restored Saturday.

Consumers Energy urges people to be careful if they are traveling over the holiday weekend due to debris and ongoing restoration activities. Be alert to crews working along roadsides. Drivers should slow down or stop and wait for oncoming traffic to clear so they can go safely past.

Consumers Energy customers can check the status of outages at ConsumersEnergy.com/Outage. They can also sign up to get outage alerts and restoration times sent via phone, email or text. Text 'REG' to 232273 or visit www.ConsumersEnergy.com/alerts.

Keep these additional safety tips in mind:

• Stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines, and report unguarded downed lines by calling 9-1-1 and Consumers Energy at 800-477-5050. Consumers Energy reminds people that falsely calling in downed lines slows down the restoration process for everyone.

• 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, cleanup 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.
• For customers with medical conditions, be prepared for the possibility of power outages by charging medical devices and phones, keep emergency instructions from your provider readily accessible, and make sure to have a backup plan for medications requiring refrigeration.

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Members of the media are reminded to call 1-800-557-4625 to reach a Consumers Energy Media Relations representative 24/7.