Power restored to most in northern Michigan, but some outages remain

Cleanup from the storm that crippled Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and part of the Lower Peninsula continued Thursday, with only a few thousand residents still without electricity.

Repair crews continue to make progress returning power. An estimated 12,000 remained without service on Thursday. At one time, the number was in the hundreds of thousands.

Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op, which serves a nine-county region in northeast Michigan, said Wednesday it restored power to 90% of its more than 31,000 customers — or about 27,900. That means about 3,100 are still in the dark.

“We expect to make continued significant progress turning the lights on for many members over the next couple of days and into the weekend, and as you may have seen already, we believe we’ll have all of our main lines and taps fully energized by Monday morning,” company officials said Thursday on its Facebook page.

“Our system was hit harder than any other utility by this storm, and your continued patience and support throughout the extensive rebuild has been invaluable. The resilience of our northern Michigan communities is inspiring to see, and we’re so proud to serve you. The end is clearly in sight, and we will get through this together!”

Alpena Power has restored electricity to all of more than 16,700 customers, according to its online outage map on Thursday.

About 9,600 of Great Lakes Energy’s 132,620 customers were still without electricity on Thursday, according to the company’s online outage map.

The company, which serves western northern Michigan from the tip of the mitten to Holland, said main power lines and core infrastructure were substantially restored Tuesday, allowing crews to make additional progress to reach rural, remote and hard-to-reach areas.

Shaun Lamp, its president and CEO, said the development meant students at Johannesburg-Lewiston Area Schools were expected to return to class Thursday.

“That significant step toward normalcy in this region shows the incredible dedication and grit of our crews who are taking on the unique challenges to restore power to families across northern Michigan,” he said in a statement.

The company said it expects all of its customers to have their power restored by the time the next work week starts.

“Our goal is to have the full infrastructure rebuilt and 100% of our members with power by Sunday, April 13,” officials said in a Facebook post.

Officials with the school district said they expected a safe and supportive return to school.

Cloverland Electric Cooperative, which provides electricity in the eastern Upper Peninsula, reported on Thursday that about 150 of its more than 43,000 customers were without electricity. However, it announced Wednesday that about 297 of its customers in the St. Ignace area would temporarily be affected by a planned outage on Thursday.

Finally, about 319 Consumers Energy customers statewide had their service interrupted on Thursday, but 99.9% had power, according to its online outage map. In northern Michigan, one customer was out in Cheboygan County and one in Missaukee County. The other outages were in central, western and southern Michigan.

Ongoing cleanup, recovery

In related news, state officials said they are assessing damage and conducting cleanup at several state parks, state park campgrounds, state forest campgrounds, boating access sites and state-managed trails following the severe ice storms nearly two weeks ago.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources crews are working with the Michigan Army National Guard, local agencies and utility companies to clear debris, restore essential services, and ensure access to critical infrastructure, they said.

Last Friday, DNR officials said that state-managed trails in a dozen northern Michigan counties, including parts of the eastern Upper Peninsula, will remain closed following the severe ice storms.

On Thursday, they said the department anticipates the majority of affected state park campgrounds and overnight lodging locations will open by their scheduled spring 2025 opening dates, with associated state parks opening the same day.

However, some parks, state park campgrounds and lodging locations may require extra preparation time, causing openings to be postponed by a couple of weeks, according to the agency. They said Clear Lake State Park is the only campground with a known delayed opening, likely by two to four weeks.

“We understand the public concerns and questions regarding the extent of damage and closures following the storm,” Ron Olson, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division, said in a statement. “With public road and infrastructure work progressing, staff is now focused on restoring outdoor recreation access. We anticipate reopening many of these locations within the next few weeks.”

He said the DNR anticipates nearly all reservations will be honored. To date, approximately 30 reservations have been moved, according to Olson. He added that while a few more cancellations are possible, staff is working diligently to meet those season opening dates.

On Wednesday, the department said it had launched an interactive map for people to track roads now open following the massive ice storm.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

@CharlesERamirez