Reliability Roadmap by the Numbers: 2,700 Electric Reliability Improvements Powered by Customers' Investments in 2025
MWN-AI** Summary
Consumers Energy recently announced significant advancements in its electric reliability efforts, showcasing the completion of nearly 2,700 distribution reliability projects in 2025. These initiatives stem from customer investments aimed at enhancing the electric grid and improving overall service. Over the past five years, 80% of customer rate increases have supported these crucial reliability upgrades, which prove particularly essential given the severe weather patterns experienced across Michigan in 2025, including historic ice storms and extreme winds.
The initiatives included constructing three new substations and executing seven fractionalization projects to better serve growing communities. Furthermore, over 32,000 utility poles were installed, alongside the inspection of more than 26,000 miles of power lines, utilizing crews, helicopters, and drones. Also notable was the implementation of over 12,000-line sensors for early problem detection and the clearing of trees from more than 8,000 miles of power lines to mitigate outages caused by falling branches.
The impact of these improvements was evident despite a 20% increase in weather-related outage events. Consumers Energy effectively reduced customer outages by 130,000, leading to significant savings and improved response times during critical situations. This proactive approach to grid reliability aligns with the company's long-term goals, which aim to minimize outages and restore power quickly.
As Michigan's largest energy provider, Consumers Energy serves 6.8 million residents and strives to deliver reliable and affordable energy while adapting to increasing weather challenges. The findings from 2025 highlight the company's commitment to responsible investment and strategic planning, directly benefiting customers through fewer outages and lower restoration times.
MWN-AI** Analysis
The 2025 Reliability Roadmap from Consumers Energy highlights significant investments aimed at enhancing Michigan's electric grid. With nearly 2,700 reliability projects completed, this strategic initiative is underpinned by an imperative to address increasing weather-driven outages—a pressing issue exacerbated by climate change.
A profound 80% of customer rate increases over the past five years have been allocated to these critical reliability improvements. Investors and market analysts should view this as a commitment not only to sustainability but also as a stabilizing influence in a fluctuating energy sector. Consumers Energy's proactive approach in project execution signifies robust management and foresight in responding to severe weather patterns observed in 2025. Notably, the company's investment in advanced technology, such as automated rerouting during outages, may serve a dual purpose: reducing immediate disruptions and ensuring long-term cost savings for customers.
With 130,000 fewer outages reported despite a 20% increase in severe weather events, the tangible outcomes of these investments can yield positive sentiment among customers and stakeholders alike, enhancing brand loyalty and investor confidence.
For potential investors, the key takeaway is that Consumers Energy's methodical enhancements to infrastructure can mitigate future risks while optimizing operational costs. The long-term goals—ensuring no customer experiences outages longer than 24 hours and limiting the impact of severe weather events—could serve as benchmarks for market performance.
In summary, potential stakeholders may consider the company's reliability improvements as a favorable investment opportunity, indicative of consistent revenue streams and growing customer satisfaction. Monitoring ongoing developments within Consumers Energy will be crucial for assessing overall market position and future growth potential in response to evolving energy demands and climate challenges.
**MWN-AI Summary and Analysis is based on asking OpenAI to summarize and analyze this news release.
PR Newswire
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
FAQ**
How does CMS Energy Corporation CMS plan to maintain the momentum from the 2,700 reliability improvements made in 2025 amid the continuous challenges posed by severe weather events?
Can CMS Energy Corporation CMS provide specific examples of how the $15 million in savings from improved storm forecasting will reinvest in further reliability projects in the coming years?
What additional measures will CMS Energy Corporation CMS implement to ensure that the long-term goals of reducing outage time to under 24 hours are achieved by future deadlines?
In what ways does CMS Energy Corporation CMS plan to involve customers in future investments to further enhance the reliability roadmap established in 2025?
**MWN-AI FAQ is based on asking OpenAI questions about CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE: CMS).
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