Power Still Out For More Than 700K In Michigan

(Updated) METRO DETROIT, MI — About 735,000 people in Michigan remain without power as of late Thursday afternoon, according to power company officials. That’s a significant drop from the nearly 1.1 million peak on Wednesday, but officials said there’s still a long way to go.

“We expect to have power restored to 90 percent of our customers by Sunday evening,” DTE Energy President and CEO Jerry Norcia said at a press conference held in conjunction with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. “Our No. 1 priority is and remains ensuring the safety of the public, our employees and the communities we serve.”

A total of approximately 800,000 DTE customers were impacted by the storm, which reached gusts of nearly 70 mph. Norcia said 225,000 had been restored as of Thursday afternoon. “We’re focused on restoring service as fast as possible,” he said.

Consumers Energy CEO Patti Poppe said her company had restored about 50 percent of its customers power, but approximately 160,000 were still down. “The disbursed nature of this event creates additional challenges to have enough people all across the state to restore power,” she said.

The storm knocked down 1,000 utility poles, Poppe added. She said Consumers has about 2,200 employees working continuously to restore power.

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`As for DTE, 3,500 employees are deployed, according to Norcia. That includes more than 2,000 lineman and almost 1,000 tree trimmers, he said. Crews are currently working 16-hour shifts in the storm’s wake. DTE pulled additional crews from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, New York and Pennsylvania to help in restoration efforts.

The storm downed about 4,000 power lines, Norcia said.

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The Red Cross and Michigan State Police, meanwhile, have helped coordinate the opening of warming centers throughout the state, Snyder said. “We’re really concerned about people staying warm and safe, especially our most vulnerable populations,” he said. “We need the residents to look out for one another. This is when Michiganders are at our best, when we have challenges like this.”

Photo by ResoluteSupportMedia via Flickr Commons