LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Fewer than 10,000 customers are now without power following Thursday night’s storms, Lansing Board of Water & Light announced Sunday afternoon.
In a news release, BWL said it has restored power to more than 20,000 homes and businesses in the days since the storms, and that the local electric utility still has about 9,500 customers still without power.
“We’ve deployed an army of line crews and tree crews to restore power as quickly as possible,” said BWL General Manager Dick Peffley. “We continue to appreciate the patience of our customers while we work diligently to move trees, repair poles and replace lines which brought the worst storm damage I’ve seen in my near-50 year career.”
In the mean time, the utility is urging caution to people who may be using a generator to keep power on in their homes. The BWL has issued the following safety tips:
- NEVER run a generator indoors or in partially enclosed spaces
- Do not operate a generator near open doors and windows
- Fans will not prevent carbon monoxide build-up in the home
- Install battery-powered carbon monoxide alarms inside your home to alert of dangerous levels
The utility is also reminding people to stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines for their safety, and to treat intersections with traffic signals out as four-way stops.
In addition, the BWL said that customers who have experienced a single service outage because of mast damage are responsible to have repairs to the mast done before the BWL can restore power.
BWL customers can use any of the BWL-approved electrical contractors for mast repairs, and can finance payments interest-free for 12 months, the company said.
To check the status of an outage, or report an outage or downed line, you can call 877-295-5001, visit the Outage Center, use the BWL Outage Center mobile app or text “out” or “outage” to 898295 or txtbwl.
