Consumers Energy will have over 200 workers and contractors on-call as parts of Michigan prepare for stormy weather on Election Day. Brian Wheeler, a spokesperson for Consumers, said the company wants to ensure voters will be able to submit their ballot in the event of a power outage.
“We really want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep the power on, especially for voting and polling locations across the state,” Wheeler said. “This storm doesn't look as severe as others that we've seen this year, but we always take seriously that potential for power outages.”
The National Weather Service is reporting likely showers, a possible thunderstorm and wind gust speeds up to 37 mph in Grand Rapids and the surrounding area up the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Michigan opened its early voting over a week ago and sent absentee ballots to voters in early October. Over 40% of active Michigan voters have already cast a ballot. Wheeler said Consumers hope that there will not be many outages but has prepared enough staff for the worst.
“We'll continue to look at our staffing levels to make sure that we are where we're able to respond properly,” Wheeler said. “All of that work is coming from folks here in Michigan, and hopefully the storm won't be that severe.”
He suggests poll workers prepare for a possible outage by charging devices and unplugging any power strips with sensitive electronics. Workers can call the Consumers hotline at 800-805-0490.
“We want folks to call our 800 number for our business center if there are any problems so that we can really work to get those crews in place,” Wheelers said. “We are monitoring polling locations, so we'll be able to respond very quickly if we do see any power outages.”
Colin Jackson of the Michigan Public Radio Network contributed reporting to this story. We note Consumers Energy is a sponsor of WCMU. We report on them as we do with any other organization.
