Reliability Roadmap By the Numbers: Consumers Energy Finishing 1,350 Projects in 2024 to Keep the Lights On

Investments Building Stronger and Smarter Energy Grid

JACKSON, Mich., Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With less than two weeks to go in 2024, Consumers Energy crews are completing the last of 1,350 major projects that support the company's Reliability Roadmap to keep the lights on for Michigan.

"We know our friends and neighbors are expecting us to do more to build a smarter and stronger electric grid, and our work this year has focused on doing just that," said Greg Salisbury, Consumers Energy's vice president of electric grid design. "The numbers tell the story: we're upgrading our system to make sure nearly 2 million homes and businesses experience fewer and shorter power outages."

Consumers Energy is spending $63.5 million combined on the 1,350 projects, part of a more than $1 billion investment to strengthen the electric grid.

Other numbers that tell the Reliability Roadmap story for 2024:

• 25,800 - Miles of overhead low-voltage power lines that 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 that works 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.

"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."

Other tactics in the Reliability Roadmap include, infrared cameras, more durable iron poles and even a robotic dog.

Consumers Energy is Michigan's largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties. Consumers Energy knows job number one is to keep the lights on for customers. We are committed to delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to our customers 24/7.  

For more information about Consumers Energy, go to ConsumersEnergy.com.

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SOURCE Consumers Energy