WEATHER

Consumers Energy, DTE ask customers to turn down thermostats

Detroit Free Press

Updated: Consumers Energy asks customers to keep heat down through Friday

In the midst of a polar vortex that has brought record-breaking low temperatures to Michigan, Consumers Energy has called for customers to reduce their natural gas usage and DTE Energy is asking customers to reduce electricity usage.

Consumers Energy sent an urgent text alert on cellphones shortly after 10:30 p.m. urging utility customers to lower thermostats and reduce energy usage or risk a dangerous gas shortage in the wake of record-breaking cold.

The temperature in metro Detroit hovered at minus 11 degrees at 10:30 p.m., smashing the record for Jan. 30 of minus 4 degrees set in 1951.

And the Michigan Public Service Commission has ordered a suspension of all utility shutoffs during the cold spell, according to a news release from the Lansing regulators.

Auto plants closed

In addition to individual residential customers, General Motors has been requested by Consumers Energy to suspend operations at several manufacturing sites. GM operations are suspended at the following SE Michigan locations:

Orion Assembly
Pontiac Stamping
Flint Assembly, Flint Stamping, Flint Engine and Flint Tool & Die
Lansing Delta Township Assembly, Lansing Grand River Assembly, Lansing Regional Stamping, and Lansing Grand River Stamping
Warren Transmission and the Warren Tech Center

The exceptions include: Milford Proving Grounds, GM Renaissance Center, Willow Run and Ypsilanti CCA facilities, and the Center for Human Resources, as they are powered by DTE. Employees at those locations should report to work Thursday.

Hourly and salaried employees at impacted GM manufacturing facilities should call their plant hotline or the following number for details: 877-464-6854 (877-GMHOTLIne).

Ford Motor Co. is also taking measures in response to the extreme cold.

Kelli Felker, a Ford spokeswoman, said in a statement Wednesday, “Due to extreme temperatures and at the request of Consumers Energy, we are curtailing our natural gas usage in some of our plants. We lowered the temperature in Livonia Transmission Plant and Van Dyke Transmission Plant to minimum levels. We stopped heat treatment processes at Sterling Axle Plant and will stop our paint process at Michigan Assembly Plant at midnight. We will continue to work with Consumers Energy in the days ahead. All other plants are operating normally.”

These are the only Ford plants supplied by Consumers Energy. Other Ford plants have various energy sources and aren’t currently affected by the shortage.

As of midnight Wednesday, no vehicle assembly had been affected. Ford builds the Ranger at the Michigan Assembly Plant but only the paint process was impacted. Also, vehicle assembly there is on one shift and no cancellations had been planned for Thursday. However, the situation is fluid and Ford is monitoring closely.

Dial down

Both of Michigan's two biggest utilities suggest turning thermostats down. Here's why:

Consumers Energy called for customers to voluntarily reduce their natural gas usage because of a fire on Wednesday and DTE Energy asked customers to reduce their electric usage.

Consumers Energy executives said that a fire at the Ray Township Natural Gas Compressor Station in Macomb County broke out around 10:33 a.m. The fire was quickly brought under control, with no injuries, but as a result the utility is scrambling to supply enough gas from reserve storage areas in Wayne and St. Clair counties, officials said.

Shortly after the fire broke out, Garrick Rochow, senior vice president of operations for Consumers Energy, asked residents and businesses to reduce their gas usage by doing the following:

Set thermostats to a lower temperature, such as setting heat to 65 degrees while you're home and 62 degrees when you're away for more than five hours.
Industrial and business customers are asked to temporarily reduce processes.
Seal and shut windows and doors, check for leaks by feeling around for cool air and ensure all windows and doors are closed tightly.

Lake Michigan is helping Michigan stay warmer than other states

By Wednesday afternoon, with temperatures in Macomb County headed toward a predicted 12 below zero overnight — and record lows likely in much of the rest of Consumers Energy's service area, across mid- to northern Lower Peninsula — Rochow said he was confident that customers would dial down to 62 for the next day or two.

"One thing I’ve found about Michiganders is that we’ve got a great state and everybody pitches in. We know that our customers are pitching in to make the right choice, and it’s making a difference in our operations," he said. The company also asked more than a dozen of its biggest industrial and institutional customers to reduce usage, he said.

The gas shortage should end in 24 to 48 hours, "about the length of this extreme cold spell," Rochow said.

Added spokeswoman Katie Carey: "We understand the timing of this situation and our request of the customers is not ideal given the low temperatures, and we do request customer's patience."

Compressor plant fire

When the fire broke out, automatic equipment called a fire gate quickly shut off the supply of gas to the fire, limiting damage, executives said. However, personnel at the site then undertook "a controlled burn" of natural gas left in the pipes, to make sure that all of it was used up before undertaking repairs, utility executives said, in a telephone news conference.

The controlled burn ended after several hours, and since then workers were assessing damage, although it was too soon to project a cost, the executives said.

"There’s no indication at this point that the cold contributed to the fire. But of course, we’ll investigate the cause," Consumers Energy spokesman Brian Wheeler said, in an email.

To make up for turning off the station in Ray Township, the big utility — Michigan's second largest — activated underground storage fields in Northville and St. Clair to bolster its supply of natural gas, the executives said.

President and CEO of CMS Energy & Consumers Energy Patti Poppe got on Facebook live Wednesday evening with an appeal for Michiganders to consider reducing their thermostats “as much as you can,” after a fire broke out at one of their “most significant facilities.”

Poppe said there was record-breaking cold Wednesday, and therefore record-breaking demand for natural gas. Expecting another cold forecast Thursday, Poppe urged consumers to take action and lower their thermostats to help the company meet needs in the cold weather.

“We have an opportunity to protect the system so that we can deliver enough gas for everyone to have some heat and to protect our most critical facilities, like hospitals and senior citizens homes. You can make a difference,” Poppe said.

Michigan State Police also tweeted that all state-owned facilities in the Lower Peninsula would be lowering their thermostats by 5 degrees to lessen the burden on the natural gas supply.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also held a news conference echoing Consumers Energy’s call for action.

She urged those in the Lower Peninsula to turn their thermostats down to 65 degrees or less, from now until Friday at noon.

“So that we can get through this storm with minimal harm,” she said.

“Amplify this message.”

What about DTE?

As for the electric customers of Michigan's other giant utility, DTE Energy put out a call for customers to voluntarily reduce their electricity usage amid "the extremely cold weather" on Wednesday.

Executive Director of Generation Optimization for DTE Energy Christy Wicke explained in a statement that while DTE's plants are running well, their system is connected to energy grids in other states and Canada that are experiencing issues because of extreme weather.

The company said on Twitter that a reduction will help safeguard the reliability of their regional energy grid.

Although DTE Energy will gain "relief later in the week from the polar vortex, it's important that the electrical grid get help from our customers today," Wicke said Wednesday.

"If every DTE Energy customer does just a little bit, energy demand can be substantially reduced — and that will help maintain reliability of the entire grid during subzero temperatures."

Wicke provided the following ways customers can reduce their electricity usage:

Dial down thermostat several degrees in your home and wear additional layers of clothing
Minimize the use of electrical appliances and equipment, like washers, dryers, ovens, dishwashers and humidifiers
Turn off unnecessary lights
Open curtains on south-facing windows during the day and let sunlight naturally heat the home, close them at night to reduce the chill from cold windows
Use a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape a clear plastic film to the inside of the window frames during the cold winter months — but make sure the plastic is sealed tightly to reduce infiltration

Contact Aleanna Siacon: ASiacon@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AleannaSiacon.