Consumers Energy Improving Electric Reliability with Line Rebuilding; “Pole Top” Replacement Programs

-

$700,000 in Upgrades Planned for Beadle and Goguac Lake Areas

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 10, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Consumers Energy will be upgrading electrical infrastructure to improve reliability for its electric customers in the Beadle and Goguac Lake areas of Calhoun County.

The company is undertaking major projects to rebuild line sections and begin a new “pole top replacement program” in the area in 2015.

“Next year, we plan to do pole top rehabilitation work on a more widespread basis across Michigan,” said LeeRoy Wells, Consumers Energy’s director of customer and services infrastructure. “There have been outages in the Beadle and Goguac Lake areas recently due to conductor failures and the type of equipment failure that the new pole top replacement program addresses. The residents and businesses there have been more than patient, and we don’t want them to wait to benefit from these system upgrades.”

Consumers Energy expects the projects to rebuild line sections and upgrade equipment such as cross arms, brackets, insulators, and lightning arrestors at the top of utility poles, will result in fewer future electric service interruptions for about 6,000 customers they serve in the Beadle and Goguac Lake areas.

The upgrades can be made without interrupting service to customers.

“The lifespan of the equipment at the top of poles is shorter than the pole itself, so we expect that this pole top replacement program will be an efficient way to help us keep our Promise to Michigan to deliver the energy our customers need whenever they need it,” said Wells.
Consumers Energy is investing about $2 million in its pole top replacement program across the state in 2015. About $100,000 is for its pole top replacements in the Beadle and Goguac Lake areas. The utility will also be investing about $600,000 in rebuilding distribution and high voltage distribution lines in the area.

Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.6 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

This news release contains “forward-looking statements.” The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause Consumers Energy’s results to differ materially. All forward-looking statements should be considered in the context of the risk and other factors detailed from time to time in Consumers Energy’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Media Contacts: Roger Morgenstern, 616-530-4364 or Terry DeDoes, 517-374-2159
For more information about Consumers Energy, go to www.ConsumersEnergy.com.

Previous articleThree Real Estate Developers Sentenced to Prison for their Roles in $27.8 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Next articleSEIA Supports Efforts to Increase Government Use of Renewable Energy