Michigan residents, businesses furious days after losing power
Tens of thousands of Michigan residents remained without power on Tuesday
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More than 157,000 Michigan customers were still without power Tuesday morning following winter weather, with more impacts on the way.
Power outage tracker PowerOutage.US showed 157,253 customers that were still suffering from weather-related outages.
This comes as the state utilities have struggled to restore electricity there for days since lines snapped due to an ice storm.
Last week, the tracker showed over 800,000 outages from those severe conditions.
OVER 150K MICHIGAN RESIDENTS OUT OF POWER AS BAD WEATHER CONTINUES
Ice forms on utility lines as temperatures hover around freezing in Detroit, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya / AP Newsroom)
Residents are frustrated – some of whom saw power restored and then gone once again.
Consumers Energy said Monday that there are over 600 crews working across the state, and DTE Energy tweeted in the morning that field crews had restored power to more than 600,000 of the 630,000 customers impacted by the ice storm.
DTE Energy has also said it was increasing a bill credit to $35 from $25 for customers without electricity for at least 96 consecutive hours.
Tweets from residents told a different story, with reports of delayed restoration times and inaccurate text messages.
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Local businesses in Jackson County said they have felt the effect of the outages, according to WILX.
Fallen tree branches following an ice storm in Berkley, Michigan, on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Democratic lawmakers pledged to hold utilities there accountable, reportedly noting that there was already interest in legislative hearings.
"Many Michiganders have now gone 3 days w/o power. Everyone understands the damage the storm did, but some parts of the state have long had reliability issues. This week was especially bad, so I’ve asked for briefings to understand what’s happening, & how we get at ongoing issues," Rep. Elissa Slotkin tweeted.
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow also tweeted that the length of outages in freezing temperatures "completely unacceptable," as well as the frequency of outages.
A DTE contractor crew works on a power line, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, in northwest Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio / AP Newsroom)
"I hear you and I’m as frustrated and angry as you are," she told residents.
State House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash also called for committee hearings.
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The Detroit Metro Times reported that lawmakers had passed up recent opportunities to take action of the issues and said nearly all state lawmaker have taken campaign money from DTE Energy members.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.