Myesha Johnson,Kara BergThe Detroit News
Thousands of Michigan residents were still in the dark early Tuesday after a massive ice storm walloped Michigan last week, with some outages following a new winter storm that hit the state Monday.
DTE Energy and Consumers reported about 120,000 customers without power early Tuesday compared to 145,000 reported around 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Meanwhile, a new storm hampered restoration efforts. At Detroit Metro Airport, precipitation Monday broke a record: 1.23 inches were recorded, beating the record 0.99 inches set in 1996. The Detroit River in Gibraltar was close to flood stage at 574.35 feet Monday night; flood stage is 575.3 feet, the weather service said.
Wind gusts were expected to remain high overnight and into Tuesday, when gusts above 35 mph were expected, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service earlier extended or issued new winter weather advisories for Midland, Bay, Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac, Lapeer, St. Clair and Saginaw counties, amid a wintry mix of precipitation.
As much as 0.20 inches of freezing rain was reported in White Lake Township and Clarkston, where ice knocked down tree limbs. Some 0.10 inches was reported in Lapeer County.
Earlier, DTE Energy said it had restored 600,000 of the 630,000 who were without power after an ice storm hit the region Wednesday, downing thousands of power lines. Its outage map listed about 47,000 without electricity early Tuesday. DTE officials said 30,000 outages happened after the storm, mostly from tree branches falling on power lines. Officials said Monday afternoon that Monday's storms also resulted in outages.
Consumers Energy had about 73,000 customers without power early Tuesday, down from a high of 237,000 on Thursday, but nearly double those of Monday morning. A representative said about two-thirds of the outages were new, stemming from the storm that brought a wintry mix of rain, ice and wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour to Michigan throughout the day.
More than 600 Consumers Energy crews working to restoring power to southern Michigan customers affected by last week’s ice storm are set to help homes and businesses in mid-Michigan after the turbulence Monday.
“Consumers Energy is ready and committed to our customers, even as Mother Nature has delivered a one-two punch of severe storms over the last week,” said Jeff Shingler, one of Consumers Energy’s officers in charge for the event. “We are grateful for the patience of our friends and neighbors, and are going to stay in ‘storm mode’ until everyone has their power restored in the next two days.”
There were more than 45,000 new outages Monday from storms hitting the state in the morning and afternoon, the utility said. As of 3:30 p.m., the company reported nearly double the number of outages from several hours earlier.
"Consumers Energy projects most of those customers should have power by the end of the day Wednesday," officials said in a statement.
"Crews have restored power to over 260,000 Consumers Energy customers in total. Nearly all homes and businesses affected by last week’s ice storm last week are expected to be restored by the end of today."
Ryan Stowe, the vice president of distribution operations at DTE, said crews will continue to work around the clock until power is restored. About half of the company's outages were from last week, he said, and DTE customers are not getting hit as hard by Monday's storm as customers in areas that Consumers services.
Stowe said last week's ice storm was the largest in the company's history by the number of customers affected and the second largest in 120 years.
"An ice storm is one of the utility's largest nightmares," Stowe said Monday. "We’re gonna continue working until the last customer is restored."
He called the damage from the storm "extreme and catastrophic in nature," and said crews still are working to restore primary lines as well as fix damage after homes lost power.
Stowe acknowledged the need to strengthen distribution grid and make the system more resilient to storms. He said DTE issued a distribution grid plan in 2021 and has invested more than $1 billion over the past year to improve systems. But it's going to take time to improve the 45,000 miles of power line and more than a million poles, he said.
"We are going to continue to have to harden the grid and make it more resilient," Stowe said. "It's going to take an investment and that’s an investment we want to make."
Stowe said crews will work simultaneously on last week's and Monday's outages. He said crews were being dispatched Monday morning to the oldest outages to ensure they were making progress in getting power restored.
DTE will automatically process $35 credits for customers who lost power for more than 96 hours, Stowe said, which customers previously had to apply for.
Consumers Energy spokeswoman Katie Carey said Consumers is "reviewing the customer impact and will work directly with customers on any outage credit they qualify for."
This announcement came after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel urged DTE and Consumers to proactively issue the credits. Nessel said they should have an electric infrastructure that can hold up during an ice storm, noting "winter weather is an expected occurrence in Michigan."
Originally, DTE and Consumers crews aimed to have 95% of customers affected by last week’s storm back online by the end of Sunday.
DTE Chairman and CEO Jerry Norcia had promised to have about 90% of its customers with power by the end of Friday, but did not reach that mark until Saturday afternoon.
By midnight Sunday, Consumers reported 97% of its total customer base with power and more than 33,000 customers remained without. As of 7:30 a.m. Monday, it said 97.9% of its customers were online and the number of those without service dropped to 31,890. Its 95% percent target meant it would restore electricity to 225,150 customers affected by last week's storm and cut the number of those the storm left without service to 11,850.
The utility said it held in-person events in Kalamazoo, Jackson and Hillsdale counties on Sunday, providing free meals and "a warm place to go" as power remained out for some customers.
The response to the storm led groups including Clean Water Action, Great Lakes Business Network, Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action, Michigan Conservative Energy Forum and the Michigan Environmental Council to issue a statement demanding more action from officials.
“Last week’s devastating ice storm and subsequent power outages have shown the status quo is unacceptable and this is a moment for swift action and accountability. Michigan residents pay the highest rates in the Midwest for the least reliable service and that needs to change," the statement said. "... We know Michigan is already experiencing the dangerous effects of climate change, which demand that policymakers insist on more resiliency, more investment and more equity to protect our air, land and water.”
Meanwhile, several warming and respite centers are open in the city of Detroit, including Detroit public libraries, which are operating under normal business hours and under COVID-19 protocols.
More:Key Michigan lawmaker calls for hearings on wave of winter power outages
24-hour warming centers
- Patton Recreation Center, 2301 Woodmere, open through Monday at 8 a.m.
- Farwell Recreation Center, 2711 E. Outer Drive, open through Monday at 8 a.m.
Staff Writer Mark Hicks contributed
