Consumers Energy analyzed the last eight catastrophic storms across Michigan, finding March’s restoration performance was among its best in three years.
Spokesperson Matt Johnson says West Michigan saw some of the fastest turnarounds.
“We were able to restore 90% of or 96% rather of customers within 24 hours and pretty much everybody within 48 hours.”
Statewide, over 80% were back online in 24 hours, nearly 90% within two days – a major jump from early 2023 when just 60% of customers were restored in the first day.
Johnson credits investments in the company's "Reliability Roadmap," including tree trimming, improved weather forecasting, and better crew pre-staging.
While independent audits have historically ranked Michigan near the bottom nationwide for power restoration and grid reliability, Johnson says in the areas Consumers Energy covers, the utility is working to close that gap while balancing costs.
“We want to be sure that our customers have reliable power, but we also want to be sure that they have affordable bills or bills as low as possible. We're constantly balancing the need to update our infrastructure, but keeping affordability in mind as well. We are finding that balance and over the last several years; the storm data proves that those numbers are improving.”
Learn the facts on Consumers Energy’s commitment to reliable, affordable energy at ConsumersEnergy.com.
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