Reliability Roadmap by the Numbers: 2,700 Electric Reliability Improvements Powered by Customers' Investments in 2025

80% of customer rate increases over the past 5 years fund reliability improvements 

JACKSON, Mich., Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers Energy is looking back on a year of major grid improvements as crews across Michigan completed thousands of projects in 2025 to strengthen the electric system, reducing outages, restoring power faster and helping control costs for customers. These upgrades reflect our commitment to investing customers' dollars wisely in work that improves their experience even as severe weather intensified statewide. 

"We promised our customers a stronger, smarter grid, and we are delivering on that promise while being thoughtful on how we spend customer dollars," said Greg Salisbury, senior vice president and president of the electric grid. "That's why we're focused on practical upgrades that reduce outages today and help avoid higher costs down the road." 

In 2025, Michigan experienced historic ice storms, extreme winds and one of the most active tornado seasons since 1950. While Consumers Energy cannot control the storms, we are doing the work before storms hit by reinforcing equipment, trimming trees near power lines, inspecting infrastructure and installing technology to spot problems earlier. 

The investments in preparation paid off. Despite 20 percent more weather driven outage events, Consumers Energy's investments reduced customer impacts by 130,000 outages at their homes and businesses. Improved storm forecasting and planning generated $15 million in savings, helping crews respond more efficiently and reducing costs over time. 

"This work isn't about buzzwords or big promises. It's about doing the right work in the right places," Salisbury said. "When we invest wisely, customers see the benefit through fewer outages and faster restoration." 

Reliability Roadmap by the Numbers:

In 2025, Consumers Energy completed nearly 2,700 low voltage and high voltage distribution reliability projects, including:

• Built three new substations and completed seven fractionalization projects to divide the electric grid into smaller sections and support growing communities
• 32,173 utility poles installed to replace and upgrade infrastructure
• 26,069 miles of power lines inspected by crews, helicopters and drones and over 12,000-line sensors installed to catch issues early
• Trees and limbs cleared from more than 8,000 miles of power lines to prevent outages caused by falling branches, reduce storm damage and improve safety
• Used automated technology to reroute power during outages by creating 31 ATR loops including 96 reclosers to limit customer impact and outage length.

"We know customers are feeling the impact of rising costs on everything from groceries to housing and insurance," said Chris Fultz, vice president of low voltage distribution. "That is why we are focused on smart, preventative work that strengthens the grid because avoiding outages and restoring power faster helps reduce customers' costs over time." 

Consumers Energy remains focused on projects that support the long-term goals of the Reliability Roadmap, which are that no customer is ever without power for more than 24 hours and that no single weather incident affects more than 100,000 customers. While those goals have not yet been fully reached, the progress made in 2025 shows meaningful movement in the right direction. 

Severe weather is becoming more frequent, but we are preparing for it. By investing carefully in the equipment that serves our neighbors and businesses today, Consumers Energy is working to deliver more reliable service, reducing disruptions and costs for the long term. 

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. We are committed to delivering reliable and affordable energy to our customers 24/7. 

Learn more at ConsumersEnergy.com. 

SOURCE Consumers Energy