Consumers Energy unveils plan to cut power outage durations, frequency
GRAND RAPIDS — Jackson-based Consumers Energy says it aims to bolster the reliability of its electric grid and will seek approval from state regulators to begin work on a long-term plan to cut power outage times and shrink the number of customers facing outages at a single time.
Consumers officials unveiled the company's "reliability road map" during an event Monday. In order to reduce the frequency and severity of outages, Consumers says it wants to continue trimming trees with branches hanging over aboveground power lines, replace outdated electric poles and bury more power lines underground where they are less likely to be affected by harsh storms and continue to automate parts of its electric grid where it can. The road map is a five-year plan, company officials say.
"We know that demand for energy is increasing," said Tonya Berry, senior vice president of transformation and engineering at Consumers. "We know that severe weather threats are becoming far too common. Our job, No. 1, is to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity to our customers. This road map will allow us to do that."
Exact figures, both for cost and the number of electric lines the company plans on replacing, weren't immediately available Monday. Consumers will need approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission to begin work on the plan, and a company spokesperson said the company will seek approval of the plan from the MPSC in future electric rate cases over the next five years.
Greg Salisbury, Consumers vice president of electric distribution engineering, said the plan will see the company invest "about $9 billion." Additionally, the company could bury an estimated 5,000 additional miles of low-voltage power lines underground, Salisbury said. Currently, the company has about 50,000 miles of distribution lines total and about 16% of that is already underground.
The filing won't be binding, the spokesperson said, but the plan will be considered in future rate increase requests. Under state law, utility companies must receive approval from the MPSC any time they want to raise their rates. The MPSC is currently considering an electric rate increase request made by Consumers for $216 million across its customer base, which would equate to a monthly increase of 3.3% for a residential customer's electric bill, according to the attorney general's office. A verdict on that request is expected by Feb. 1, 2024.
"I think we'll have to see how it plays out," Berry said. "We have a responsibility, when we look at affordability for our customers, to make sure we are efficient with the dollars that we have and continue to spend. Those things will be vetted out through the annual process that we go through with the commission."
The MPSC approved a $155 million increase request for Consumers' electric rates in January.
In total, 1.8 million Michiganders receive electric service from Consumers, which is one of the largest electric utilities in Michigan alongside Detroit-based DTE Energy. Both of Michigan's largest utilities are among the worst-performing nationally when it comes to how long it takes them to restore power after an outage, according to a review of reliability data.
The companies have come under scrutiny from customers and lawmakers this year, particularly as devastating storms both in the winter and more recently a series of tornadoes sweeping through Michigan, knocked out power for thousands of customers. DTE Energy is also undertaking efforts to increase reliability, including through a pilot program burying power lines in one Detroit neighborhood.
Consumers officials say these storms are becoming more common, and the electric grid needs to be bolstered in response. With the proposed reliability road map, the company targets having no customer go without power for more than 24 hours, and for no outage to affect more than 100,000 customers.
"We're preparing a grid that's almost hurricane strength, as part of this road map," said Chris Laird, Consumers vice president of electric operations.
More: DTE, Consumers Energy report higher 2nd quarter earnings as power outages are repaired
Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Consumers Energy to seek approval for new electricity reliability plan
