State wants to hear from people who lost power in storms
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — State regulators want to hear from frustrated Michigan residents who lost electricity during recent storms across the Lower Peninsula.
The Michigan Public Service Commission, which sets rates and other policies affecting utilities, said it will hold two town hall-style meetings on March 20 in Jackson and Dearborn.
Another meeting will be livestreamed at 6 p.m. on March 21 over Microsoft Teams.
"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," MPSC Chairman Dan Scripps said.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost power — some for days — as a result of ice and snow from two storms. The state's largest utilities, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, said the weather presented extraordinary challenges.
"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," Scripps said.
The Jackson meeting will start at noon at American 1 Credit Union Event Center, followed by the Dearborn gathering at 5:30 p.m. at Fordson High School.