How Reliable Is Your Michigan Electric Utility?

Novi MI

26 February, 2021

4:25 PM

Description

NOVI, MI — The monumental power failure in Texas caused by unseasonable cold showed how extreme weather can push an electric grid to the brink. The average U.S. power customer loses electricity for 1.5 to 2 hours annually even before extreme weather events are taken into account, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As the Texas experience showed, hurricanes, snowstorms, heat waves and other extreme weather events can make such outages dramatically worse. Customers in Michigan state experienced 9.25 hours without power in 2019 — 4.55 more hours than the national average of 4.7 hours in 2019, which is the most recent information available, according to the EIA. Nationally, 3.2 hours of downtime occurred during major events such as hurricanes and blizzards in 2019, and 1.5 hours occurred during non-major events. The average 2019 interruption time was shorter than 2018 and 2017, which saw total average outage times of nearly six hours and nearly eight hours respectively. Still, 2019's average total outage time was higher than 2013 through 2016, according to the EIA. The number of hours without power can vary widely from state to state, especially when many extreme weather events such as hurricanes, snowstorms and wildfires occur. North Carolina electric customers likely remember many hours in the dark during 2018 — the average customer in that state spent nearly 30 hours without power, much of that due to Hurricanes Michael and Florence. The states with the highest average total interruption time per customer in 2019 were Maine, West Virginia, California, Michigan and Mississippi, according to the EIA. Maine had severe winter storms and California had large wildfires. The states with the least amount of average downtime were Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and Washington, D.C. The EIA collects outage data from electric utilities annually and asks for information with and without major outages. The two major metrics are: How often the average customer experiences a non-momentary power outage during a year, referred to as the system average interruption frequency index. How many minutes the average customer is without power annually, referred to as the system average interruption duration index. Most electric utilities use standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to make their calculations. The IEEE uses a complex formula based on a utility's historical data to determine whether an outage qualifies as a major event. It also only counts outages longer than five minutes. Utilities are mostly owned by investors, cooperatives or municipalities. Investor-owned utility customers spent an average of 5.1 hours without power in 2019 while municipal customers spent an average of 2.1 hours and cooperative customers had about five hours without the lights. Here's how utilities in Michigan did during 2019, according to data from the EIA. Editor's note: This list was automatically generated using data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Please report any errors or other feedback to [email protected]. Can't find the utility provider you're looking for? Try searching for it here. DTE Electric Company Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 2,210,201 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 7.77 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.37 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.37 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.14 Consumers Energy Co Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 1,828,424 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 11.52 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.89 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.58 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.12 Indiana Michigan Power Co Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 129,066 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 8.41 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 5.54 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.13 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.71 Great Lakes Energy Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 125,362 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 12.16 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.93 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.72 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.58 City of Lansing - (MI) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 98,929 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.09 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.76 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.08 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.94 Upper Peninsula Power Company Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 58,879 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 13.08 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.53 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.48 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.78 Cloverland Electric Co-op Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 42,501 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 34 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 5.41 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 4.51 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 2.28 Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp. Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 37,255 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 12.05 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.97 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.15 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.5 Cherryland Electric Coop Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 36,490 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.42 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.25 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.89 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.85 Midwest Energy Cooperative Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 35,428 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 6.73 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 5.05 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.7 Presque Isle Elec & Gas Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 34,002 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 10.98 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 4.65 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.15 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.28 City of Holland Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 28,958 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.48 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.48 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.41 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.41 Tri-County Electric Coop (MI) Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 26,104 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 4.5 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.6 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.52 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.23 City of Bay City - (MI) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 20,243 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.67 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.67 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.82 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.82 City of Marquette - (MI) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 17,005 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.6 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.6 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.71 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.25 Alpena Power Co Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 16,475 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.61 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.61 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.9 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.9 City of Grand Haven - (MI) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 14,338 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 3.7 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.22 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.2 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.11 City of Traverse City - (MI) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 12,599 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.07 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.07 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.62 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.62 Wyandotte Municipal Serv Comm Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 12,400 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.01 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.01 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Click here to see the numbers for more Michigan utility providers.