Consumers Energy Crews Completing Final Part of 1,350 Projects to Support 2024 Reliability Roadmap

Consumers Energy crews are completing the final part of 1,350 projects supporting its Reliability Roadmap and ensuring nearly 2 million homes and businesses experience fewer and shorter power outages in Michigan.

Consumers Energy is spending $63.5 million combined on the projects, as part of a more than $1 billion investment to strengthen the electric grid.

Other numbers included in the Reliability Roadmap 2024 are:

• 25,800 – Miles of overhead low-voltage power lines were inspected.
• 7,000 – Miles of power lines where trees, limbs and branches were cleared.
• 177,000 – Number of customers who avoided power outages due to inspections carried out by helicopter.
• 100 – Number of new ATRs (automatic transfer reclosers), a technology working like traffic lights, helping limit the frequency and length of power outages.
• 10 – Miles of overhead electric lines being buried to prevent outages due to severe weather and vegetation. Consumers Energy plans to bury some 35 miles of lines in 2025.
• Other tactics in the Reliability Roadmap include, infrared cameras, more durable iron poles and even a robotic dog.

"We're building an electric grid that stands up to even more severe weather helps ensure more reliable power for the people who count on us," said Chris Laird, Consumers Energy's vice president of electric distribution. "We'll continue doing even more of this important work next year to reach our goal of restoring power to all customers, in all situations, in less than 24 hours."