Severe thunderstorms swept through our area on July 3, knocking out power for many residents in the city and townships. Chelsea Light & Power posted on Monday that power has been restored in the city, but many Consumers Energy and DTE Energy customers in the townships remain without power.
According to the Michigan Public Service Commission, residents who lose power are entitled to an automatic credit for lengthy or frequent outages. The credit will be issued by the power company without customers needing to apply for it.
Customers qualify for a $42 credit if their outage lasted:
- 16 hours, if less than 1% of their utility’s customers were affected
- 48 hours, if between 1% and 10% of customers were affected
- 96 hours, if 10% or more of customers were affected
An additional $42 is added for each day the outage continues past that threshold.
A separate credit applies for customers who experience frequent short outages: more than six interruptions of at least five minutes each within a 12-month period also qualifies for a $42 credit. That count resets to zero once the credit is paid.
Details can be found in the Consumer Information section of the Michigan.gov website: michigan.gov/mpsc/consumer/electricity/customer-outage-history
To report an outage or inquire about overdue outage credits, use the Power Outage Credit Feedback & Inquiry Form on the Attorney General’s website.
Source: Michigan Attorney General’s Office, Michigan Public Service Commission
