Consumers Energy Sending Electric Lineworkers to Virginia to Restore Power After Hurricane Helene

JACKSON, Mich., Oct. 1, 2024 – Consumers Energy is sending about 60 coworkers to Virginia on Wednesday to help those states recover from historic damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

“This hurricane has caused catastrophic damage that has leveled entire communities. Consumers Energy hopes we can contribute and make a difference for so many people in need,” said Chris Laird, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric operations. “Our lineworkers have trained for conditions like these, and they will work around the clock to help get the lights back on.”

Consumers Energy will send 48 lineworkers – 15 three-person crews three individual service lineworkers, field leaders and others, as well as equipment. They could remain out of state for as long as two weeks.

As of Tuesday afternoon, about 65,000 homes and businesses in Virginia remained without power from the hurricane. Over 1.5 million customers in five states were still affected.

Southern energy providers made the crew request via a collection of regional mutual assistance networks. Consumers Energy has accepted help from neighboring states during major storms and has sent help to other states, most recently dispatching crews to Northern Indiana after storms caused outages there in July.

“The strength of our industry is that energy providers like Consumers Energy are willing to help each other in times of need,” Laird said. “We will be thinking of our Michigan lineworkers when they’re helping restore power in these states and look forward to their safe return.”

Consumers Energy is Michigan’s largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties. Consumers Energy knows job number one is to keep the lights on for customers. We are committed to delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to our customers 24/7.