Michigan Residents May Lose Power Less, Thanks To New Consumers Energy Devices

One of the worst things about Michigan weather is that during really bad storms whether they be through rain and wind or snow and ice, it doesn’t take much for us to lose energy, and that’s where Consumers step in. Consumers Energy is constantly overwhelmed with outages, but from my experience, has always done a good job of getting power back to my house before the estimated time of arrival.

Now they are introducing new technology, which they hope will improve the electric reliability of our power grid. They're installing a record number of smart tech devices that, according to Consumers Energy, detect when power loss is happening and similar to a traffic cop automatically reroute the power to another direction:

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Consumers Energy will invest nearly $24 million in smart technology this year to prevent power outages and keep the lights on for customers. Nearly 3,000 line sensors – the most that Consumers Energy has ever installed in a year – and over 100 automatic transfer reclosers (ATRs) are being deployed throughout Michigan.

In the statement, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations Chris Laird expressed how much they're looking forward to seeing this technology in action, and hopefully saving thousands from losing power:

Consumers Energy has made a commitment with our Reliability Roadmap to ultimately restore power in 24 hours or less. New technology like this is an important tool as we make the grid more reliable for all our customers. 

I'm hoping this new device really will keep us from losing power more. In dangerous and emergencies, this may be a massive help to customers and Consumers alike.