Consumers Shutting Off Power to Thousands in Flint for 6 Hours

UPDATE: Consumers Energy has canceled its planned overnight power outage. According to WNEM, it canceled the power outage after having discussions with local officials and customers.

The last thing Genesee County residents want to hear after a snow pounding from Mother Nature is that their power will be shut off, especially with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s and 30s.

Well, this is exactly what’s about to happen as we head into the weekend. According to ABC 12, Consumers Energy plans to shut off electricity to about 3,500 customers in the Flint area. The outage is expected to begin at 11:55 p.m. on Friday. The outage should last no more than six hours. If for some reason they can't complete the job, they'll plan for a second outage on Saturday night at the same time.

I know what you're thinking—why in the world are they shutting off power, especially in December when it’s freezing outside? Surprisingly, there’s a good reason for this.

Consumers Energy says crews will be doing some scheduled maintenance on the high-voltage electric system during the outage. The goal is to avoid outages from equipment failures down the road.

Consumers Energy spokeswoman Tracy Wimmer:

Doing this type of maintenance now prevents many more customers from experiencing an outage due to equipment failure in the future and is an important part of our work to ensure grid reliability.

Now, the question everyone is wondering: which areas will be affected by the planned power outage? Well, strangely enough, it’s unclear. However, ABC 12 reported that residents on the north side of Flint received postcards in late November notifying all homes and businesses that will be affected. So, those who will lose power should already be aware.