LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan Public Service Commission will host a virtual town hall meeting Tuesday night to discuss the recent power outages that left nearly one-million people in the dark after winter storms pelted the Lower Peninsula with snow and ice.
The town hall will be livestreamed over Microsoft Teams on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. This link tells you how you can watch it.
In a recent news release, MPSC Chair Dan Scipps was quoted as saying, “We know how exasperating it is to lose power and for it to take days for service to be restored, and we share in the frustrations with the reliability of the state’s power grid. The Commission is holding these town halls to give Michiganders a chance to share directly with state regulators their experiences during and after the storms, as well as a chance to hear about what steps the MPSC is taking to address reliability.”
Also from the news release:
The Commission is in the midst of a broad effort to improve the reliability of the state’s power grid. For the grid to be able to withstand the more severe storms hitting our state, the MPSC has undertaken initiatives to better understand what’s causing repeat outages, and to push utilities to reduce their frequency and duration.
Efforts so far have included directing utilities to step up their efforts to trim more trees on a faster rotation. Early indications are that areas where these efforts have been focused are seeing fewer outages, and the outages are of shorter duration.
The Commission is preparing to launch independent, third-party systemwide audits of the electricity distribution systems of both DTE Electric and Consumers Energy to identify shortcomings, best practices, and parts of the system for targeted investment. The MPSC expects to post a request for proposals for the audits soon, with preliminary findings released before the end of 2023 and a final report sometime in 2024.
In addition to attending the in-person or virtual town halls, written comments also may be submitted to the MPSC by mail to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909, or by email to mpscedockets@michigan.gov.
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