Four days after the ice storm that caused power outages: This is what we know

LIVINGSTON COUNTY — More than 3,300 residents are still without power in Livingston County since the ice storm Wednesday night.

There are still 293 separate outages, DTE Energy said.

"As of 7 a.m. Monday morning, DTE field crews have restored power to more than 600,000 of the 630,000 customers impacted by the recent ice storm," the company said. "While more than 95% of customers impacted by the storm have been restored, crews will continue working around the clock to restore the remaining storm-impacted customers, as well as all other customers that have experienced recent outages. We expect the vast majority of the remaining customers without power to be restored by the end of the day Tuesday."

Consumers Energy serves the southwest portion of the county where there were several outages.

“Consumers Energy’s crews worked hard last night to restore power to homes and businesses in the hardest hit communities following the ice storm,” said Norm Kapala, one of Consumers Energy’s officers in charge for the event. “We understand the frustration of customers and are completing a number of remaining outages today in rural areas that suffered massive amounts of damage.”

The extended outages in the middle of winter, particularly those affecting DTE which saw extensive power loss, brought a sharp rebuke from U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing.

"Many Michiganders have now gone 3 days w/o power," Slotkin tweeted Saturday. "Everyone understands the damage the storm did, but some parts of the state have long had reliability issues. This week was especially bad, so I’ve asked for briefings to understand what’s happening, & how we get at ongoing issues."

The majority of Livingston County outages are in the Brighton area, with a just under 1,000 customers without power. Outages in Brighton remain in the areas of East Main Street and Spencer Road, and Hillandale Drive and Dorr Road and Challis Road.

Hampton Inn & Suites in Howell sold out its 101 rooms Thursday through Saturday, and about 90% of occupants were there because of the power outages across Livingston County, General Manager Tammy Kelly said. As of Monday, Kelly said, they were back to normal occupancy.

East Michigan Consumers Energy spokesperson Tracy Wimmer said the company is monitoring a storm now moving across the state and will deploy crews if outages occur.

More than 600 Consumers Energy crews, contractors and lineworkers from outside Michigan are restoring power to homes and businesses affected by the powerful ice storm, Wimmer said. Restoration work will be completed by the end of the day Monday.

Mixed precipitation falling Monday is expected to turn into rain with temperatures rising above freezing, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Dave Kook. The rain will continue until the evening and then taper off.

Temperatures Monday night are expected to remain 33 or higher. Tuesday, temperatures will get into the low 40s.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Over 3,000 people in Livingston County still don't have power