Thousands of residents and businesses in Portage, Michigan were affected by a major power outage, but electricity has now been restored.
Outage Details:
- Affected Areas: Approximately 7,000 customers were impacted, with the area of South Westnedge Avenue and I-94 hit hardest.
- Cause & Resolution: The blackout was caused by a sudden equipment issue. Repair crews successfully addressed the fault and service has returned to normal.
- Safety Protocol: Kalamazoo County Dispatch had issued a warning to treat all dark traffic lights as four-way stops until normal operations resumed.
- What Happened: The sudden blackout temporarily halted public services and disabled traffic signals at major intersections.
- Who Was Affected: Just over 7,000 customers in the Portage and Kalamazoo-Portage metropolitan area lost power.
- Resolution: Local emergency dispatch officially acknowledged the disruption and directed residents to Consumers Energy for service restoration updates. The grid has since been fully restored.
- Safety Protocols: In the event of future outages, residents are reminded by the City of Portage to treat dark intersections as four-way stops and to avoid using stoves or ovens for indoor heating.