With temperatures in the single digits and wind-chill temperatures significantly lower, Consumers Energy cut power to thousands on Wednesday, prioritizing “necessary equipment repairs” ahead their customers’ well-being.

Consumers carried out a planned power outage around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday for about 4,500 customers in Iosco County, as temperatures hovered around 9 degrees Fahrenheit.

“According to Consumers, the outage is to conduct necessary equipment repairs,” WJRT reports. “They add that performing the work will prevent further, longer outages with a greater amount of customers impacted.”

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Consumers noted the life-threatening weather conditions, but proceeded with the three-hour outage anyway.

The company “acknowledged the low temperatures their customers are facing and said they are working to retore power as soon as possible,” according to WEYI.

It’s unclear why Consumers needed to repair its equipment amid a Siberian Express winter storm that closed schools across the state this week and prompted warnings from health officials about staying alive during the severe cold.

“This severe cold can pose serious health risks, especially for those in poorly insulated homes or stranded outside,” according to a warning from MY Michigan Health that offered advice to avoid hypothermia and frostbite.

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The Iosco County outage is among several the state’s second largest utility provider has planned for January, which is typically Michigan’s coldest month of the year.

Last week, Consumers called off another planned power outage for about 1,900 customers near Midland that was scheduled for Tuesday, citing expected low temperatures, WNEM reports.

The company rescheduled that outage for “some time in the spring,” though Consumers warned two others – on Jan. 28 and Jan. 29 – are expected to proceed next week. Those outages will impact 200 and 20 customers, respectively, according to WJRT.

“Consumers Energy says those outages could be postponed, as well, depending on weather conditions that weekend,” the news site reports. “The company says all three planned power outages are necessary to carry out maintenance work designed to reduce the potential for unplanned and longer duration power outages in the future.”

Other planned outages have been canceled due to what Genesee County Commissioner Delrico Loyd described as “collective advocacy” in December, suggesting the wintertime outages aren’t as critical as the company contends.

About 3,500 customers in Flint were set for lights out in early December, before Loyd and others convinced the company to do it some other time. Consumers announced just hours before the Dec. 6 outage it would cancel its plans “after discussions with local officials and customers.”

“While the work is necessary to ensure future unplanned outages, we recognize the importance of listening to feedback from the communities we serve, and are working closely with local partners to ensure that when the work is scheduled in the future, customers can feel more prepared,” read a statement from Consumers cited by WJRT.

The planned outages follow repeated double digit rake hike requests from Consumers and DTE, which hold a monopoly on electrical service in Michigan that’s among the least reliable in the nation.

Analysis of data from the research nonprofit Climate Central last year shows Michigan residents suffer more and longer power outages than all but two states, despite paying 11% more for their monthly bill than the U.S. average, Bridge Michigan reports.

The analysis shows only Texas and California – the top two states for population – have recorded more major power outages impacting 50,000-plus customers than Michigan, putting the state ahead of all others in the Great Lakes region and states routinely impacted by hurricanes, such as Louisiana and Florida.

Last week, Consumers heaped praise on itself for improving that situation slightly, reducing the time an average Consumers customer went without power from 176 minutes in 2023 to 155 in 2024.

“Last year’s improvements were significant, and we plan to build on them in 2025,” Greg Salisbury, Consumers’ vice president of grid design, said in a prepared statement.