Thousands remain without power across Michigan after weekend storms

 

Approximately 147,000 Michiganders are still without power after wind and rain battered the state, Michigan's leading energy companies said.

About 124,000 DTE Energy customers and 23,000 Consumers Energy customers are without power as of 11 a.m Monday.

DTE urges people to stay 20 feet from downed power lines and to never use a portable generator inside a home. 

"As always, safety — for our crews and customers — is our top priority. Yesterday's storms created many dangerous situations across the energy grid, so we ask our customers to be extremely vigilant as we work to clear damage and make repairs as safely and quickly as possible," a DTE statement said. 

In total, Sunday's storm caused 285,000 DTE customers and more than 85,000 Consumers Energy customers to lose power. 

DTE wrote in a statement it expects restoration of power for 90% of its customers by the end of the day Tuesday. Nearly 2,000 members have been deployed and 200 lineman from other states are arriving to assist.

700 employees from Consumer Energy are currently working on the outages. Consumer Energy said it expects restoration work to continue through late Tuesday. 

Monday's weather is much milder than Sunday, with wind remaining at 17 mph and under, compared to Sunday yesterday, when wind gusts reached 60 mph in many parts of the state. Temperatures today will be in the high 30s and lower 40s throughout the day. 

“Today’s weather will be breezy, but much better than Sunday which will assist in restoration,” said Guy Packard, Consumers Energy vice president of electric operations, in a press release. “We remind deer hunters taking to the woods and fields today to be on the lookout for storm damage, including downed wires, and be aware that our crews may be working nearby. Safety needs to be everyone’s top concern.”