Northern Michigan – Large chunks of northern Michigan are powerless because the cold weather reduces power lines and branches, causing dangerous driving conditions.
As of 8:15 a.m. Sunday, Consumer Energy Company reported 695 blackouts, with 43,948 people affected. Great Lakes Energy reported 406 power outages, affecting 43,926 customers. The Cloverland Electric Cooperative reported at 7 a.m. that they had 1,257 interruptions in nine townships in the eastern Upper Peninsula.
Ice-damaged trees and power cords were seen in Gaylord on Sunday, March 30, 2025.
Customers in nine counties have no electricity, and the number of affected people has increased significantly overnight after reporting fallen trees and widespread damage to power lines, according to a press release from Great Lakes Energy, released Sunday morning.
Many people lost power again after recovering once before Saturday.
The power outage map for the Great Lakes District, as of Sunday, March 30, 2025 at 8:15 am.
Great Lakes Energy officials expect the recovery will take multiple days.
“The damage to the cooperative’s power infrastructure is extensive, with damage to the wires and damage to the folding lines,” the press release said. “The heavy ice has trapped trees in power lines and roads, making them impermeable in some places. The GLE line crew is working with contractors and neighboring cooperative aid assistance to safely restore power. The crew of the tree-pruning is also called in the effort.”
The fold line also creates dangerous driving conditions. An example is M-68 (Strgeon Street) on Rotter Road, Cheboygan County, which was closed early Sunday morning due to power lines on the road.
CCE Central Dispatch covers Charlevoix, Cheboygan and Emmet counties, issuing a warning on Facebook urging people not to travel.
“Because of the wires and trees that are still on the road, today are still away from the road and there are more people going down.”
The CCE also noted that St. Matthews Church, 1303 Born Street, Boyn and Lighthouse Mission Church, 7824 Rogers Road, East Jordan, are open as a warm shelter for those in need.
According to Gaylord’s National Meteorological Service Office, there are still ice storm warnings in the Alps, Montemarchi, Otzgok, Chaliva, Alcona, Crawford, Oscoda, Cheboygan, Emmet, Presque Island and Presque Island counties as well as McKinnack/Bois/Pois/Persian Blank, Beaver Island and surrounding islands until Nonon.
– Contact Jillian Fellows at [email protected].
This post originally appeared in Petoskey News Review: Power outages throughout northern Michigan due to Ice Storm in March 2025
