An annual report by a utility watchdog group, Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, says overall, Michigan utilities’ reliability performance in 2023 was worse than in 2022, among the worst in the nation and "a continuation of a long-standing problem."
In 2023, the report says, Michigan had the longest outages in the nation, largely due to subpar performance by the two largest regulated utilities, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy.
DTE Energy and Consumers Energy said severe weather events in 2023 played a large role in their outage response efforts, and excluding weather-driven outages, the state's outage response actually improved from 2022 to 2023.
The board report acknowledged the role of severe weather, and said it overwhelms Michigan utilities’ ability to respond quickly and effectively. The report said the warming climate will increase the duration of outages in Michigan unless the utilities invest in effective outage prevention and response measures.
Both utilities said they are doing exactly that.
DTE spokesperson Dana St. Coeur said the utility is taking numerous steps to improve reliability.
She said those steps include:
- Adding more than 675 smart devices to the grid to enhance reliability and safety, preventing more than 16,000 outages so far in 2025;
- Trimming more than 4,500 miles of trees near overhead electric equipment so far this year, with a target of 6,600 miles by year end; and
- Completing seven new substation projects to upgrading poles, crossarms and cables throughout the company's service territory.
St. Coeur said the measures are working. She said in 2024 customers experienced 70% less time without power compared to the previous year.
Consumers Energy spokesperson Brian Wheeler also said there are signs that its reliability improvement plan is working. Excluding major weather events, between 2014 and 2021, the utility was in the worst 25% of electric utilities for average cumulative outage duration per customer — an industry metric used to measure reliability.
Between 2022 and 2024, he said, the utility moved into the third quartile of the metric:
"We at Consumers Energy know we can do better, which is why we developed and have committed ourselves to our Reliability Roadmap. Our long-term blueprint helped deliver meaningful results in 2024 to customers, including a 12% reduction in the amount of time an average customer went without power," the company said.
"We have mapped out the strategy and tactics that should continue leading to fewer and shorter power outages, and hope other stakeholders will work with us to help us serve Michigan," said Consumers.
In a statement, the Michigan Public Service Commission, the agency charged with utility oversight, said it has been "laser-focused on reliability in recent years, and this is no time to rest. "
The commission said it ordered a comprehensive audit of the equipment and operations of the state’s two largest electric utilities, DTE Electric Co. and Consumers Energy Co., and has outlined performance improvements for the companies, including stepped-up tree trimming to avoid branches falling on power lines, and a reduction in the number of unguarded downed power lines after storms.
The commission has also begun the process of assessing penalties for poor performance, and incentives for improved performance.
Consumers Energy and DTE Energy are among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
