When a utility is experiencing outages beyond a threshold level, they report their status and estimated number of customers affected to the MPSC. The MPSC uses this information to monitor restoration activities and coordinate with utilities and local emergency responders when help is needed.
For the latest information during storm events, many Michigan utilities have outage maps on their respective webpages to assist customers in identifying affected areas and estimated restoration times. These maps are updated frequently and are the best source of information regarding an outage. In addition, customers may receive restoration updates via text messages or emails to their phones. Click here for access to your utility’s outage map.
Poweroutage.us is a resource to view outages around the country in real time, including Michigan’s map.
Storm outage data for January 2024 through October 2024 is shown below for the utilities regulated by the MPSC. For Consumers Energy and DTE Electric, events greater than 20,000 customers are listed. For all other utilities, events greater than 7,500 are listed. This data will be updated as final numbers are received from the utility reports submitted in U-21122. Initial reported outages are denoted by an asterisk (*).
| 2024 Utility Outages |
||
| Start Date of Event | Utility | Total Outages |
| 8/27/2024* | DTE | 332,921 |
| 8/27/2024* | CE | 189,917 |
| 8/27/2024* | I&M | 7,650 |
| 7/15/2024* | I&M | 11,000 |
| 7/9/2024* | CE | 48,000 |
| 6/25/2024 | CE | 185,497 |
| 6/19/2024 | DTE | 125,128 |
| 6/16/2024 | CE | 87,334 |
| 6/5/2024 | DTE | 71,603 |
| 5/20/2024 | CE | 34,988 |
| 4/12/2024 | CE | 93,060 |
| 2/28/2024 | CE | 45,704 |
| 1/12/2024 | DTE | 190,235 |
| 1/9/2024 | CE | 293,020 |
* Initial Report - Will be updated with final numbers
Customers may be eligible for a credit on their electric bill if they experience lengthy or frequent service outages. Residential customers may qualify for the greater of a $40.00 credit or their monthly customer charge. For commercial and other classes of service, the credit is determined based on a customer’s minimum bill. Customers will now receive the outage credit automatically on their bill, eliminating the prior need to apply for the credit.
| Outage Credits |
||
| Condition Type | Customers Outage Length | Credit Amount |
| Normal | 16 hrs |
$40 Plus $40 for each additional day |
| Gray Sky | 48 hrs | |
| Catastrophic | 96 hrs | |
| Credits for Repetitive Outages |
|
| 6 or more interruptions in 12 months |
$40 |
The MPSC is working to address reliability issues and improve the quality of service for customers.
The MPSC’s MI Power Grid – Grid Security and Reliability Standards workgroup provided input to the revisions incorporated into the MPSC’s Service Quality and Reliability Standards for Electric Distribution Systems and Technical Standards for Electric Service Rules. For more information on the revised rules click here.
March 2023 Power Outage Town Hall Meeting Recap
In an order issued on October 5, 2022 in Case No. U-21305, the Commission described the 2-part audit:
Part 1 will consist of a physical audit of the existing installed infrastructure to determine whether the existing installed infrastructure matches the company’s records. This part will involve physical measurements of installed distribution infrastructure to ensure compliance with the utility’s engineering standards. Measurements will include a statistically significant sample of infrastructure at a variety of locations and considering a variety of types of distribution infrastructure to get a statistically relevant understanding of the state of the utility’s overall distribution system. This part will include a comparison of the condition of the company’s distribution system to that of other utilities in similar climates.
Part 2 will consist of an audit of each utility’s programs and processes to determine whether the existing programs and processes for emergency preparedness, storm restoration, distribution system maintenance, and investment are sufficient and equitable, and whether they properly plan for climate change and changing load profiles. This part will include a review of each company’s engineering standards and inspection and maintenance programs to ensure they meet the needs of the distribution system, now and into the future. It will include an audit of the accounting process for the distribution system to ensure costs are being accurately managed and recorded. It will also include a review of how the utility manages the operations of the distribution system, including how maintenance prioritization is determined, how personnel are managed during outage recovery, and company management and internal policies and procedures regarding outages, distribution management, safety, and planning.
In response to an order issued on March 3, 2022, the Staff worked with utilities to create a reporting template enabling the utilities to file updated information pertinent to reliability, outages and storm response.
Reportable data will include existing and proposed reliability metrics, as well as data on outage numbers and restoration times for each month and each storm, and monthly tree trimming data that includes the miles of power lines cleared and the amount spent on tree trimming. For data reported on storms, the Commission also seeks information on storm type, customers interrupted, storm duration and restoration in days, the amount of dollars spent for each storm event, dollars paid in customer outage credits, and mutual aid requests and expenses for each storm event. The Commission specifically seeks data by ZIP code and Census tract, finding it especially useful to have that level of granularity.
The first utility data submissions will be provided to the Commission by May 15, 2023 and will include data for January, February, and March 2023. The Commission’s Distribution System Reliability webpages will be updated with the new data when available.
The Statewide Energy Assessment Report (SEA Report) is a statewide review of the supply, engineering, and deliverability of natural gas, electricity, and propane systems, as well as contingency planning related to those systems.
SEA Report SEA Fact Sheet 2021 SEA Progress Report
These reports include an overview of the utility’s distribution system, plans for future improvement, vegetation management plans, and reliability performance metrics.
Indiana Michigan- Revised Page 52
Participation in the Michigan Infrastructure Council's 30 Year Infrastructure Planning Project
