Experts say changing and increasingly severe weather patterns and an electric infrastructure designed for a different time and climate can be blamed on power outages that left more than 800,000 Michigan homes and businesses in the dark over several days.
A utility worker works on lines in Detroit, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. A new storm teeming with freezing rain and strong winds socked Michigan on Monday, presenting a fresh challenge for crews that have been trying to restore electricity to thousands of customers who have been in the dark since ice snapped lines days ago. It was back on Sunday evening but was lost again the next day. And likefollowing back-to-back ice storms, Thomas wonders when the lights will come on — and stay on.
Jackson, Michigan-based Consumers Energy had restored power to about 260,000 customers who had lost service before Monday’s storm knocked out electricity to another 45,000 homes and businesses.Meanwhile, Thomas said her family is trying to keep their pipes from bursting because of the cold and have lost all the food in their refrigerator.
Beginning last Wednesday, rain began to fall across parts of Michigan. As the temperature dropped, it became sleet and ice. But delays in restoration have more to do with planning and logistics than an infrastructure, said Seth Guikema, professor of Industrial and Operational Engineering at the University of Michigan.DTE Energy Chair and Chief Executive Jerry Norcia has said the utility has spent billions of dollars working to prepare the power grid for severe weather events, including trimming 5,000 to 6,000 miles of trees each year to prevent branches from falling onto power lines.
State Sen. Sean McCann, a Democrat from Kalamazoo and chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment, said Tuesday that he wants an investigation.Consumers Energy supplies electricity to 1.8 million homes and businesses, largely outside of metropolitan Detroit. DTE Energy has about 2.3 million electricity customers in southeastern Michigan.
“The ice sure puts quite a burden on all these trees that are around our area and around our lines," he said."We’re going to continue to look for ways to make the system more resilient, be able to handle any damage that’s coming from those trees.”Utility customers in the Detroit area may have more to be concerned with as more cold, wet and icy weather is expected this weekend.
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