Ice storms cause power outage for thousands of U.P. residents

UPDATE: Nearly 3,000 customers across the Upper Peninsula are still without power as of 7 p.m.

Line crews from several power companies worked throughout the night to restore power.

At one point on Wednesday, power companies were jointly reporting more than 15,000 outages.

Utility companies are reminding residents never to touch a downed power line. Call 9-1-1 instead.

ISHPEMING – Several inches of snow and ice meant lights went out for over ten thousand Upper Peninsula power customers on Wednesday.

An ice storm across the region continued to cause downed trees and power outages throughout the day.

Repair crews are working to restore power as fast as they can.

As of 3:30 p.m., more than 6,000 WE Energies customers were still without power.

About 2,000 Cloverland Electric customers and about 3,500 UPP CO customers were also waiting for the power to come back on.

UPPCO spokesman Brett French said he expected the numbers to fluctuate over the course of the day.

French said the company is posting updates to Twitter, but the best place to find up-to-date information is at your power company’s website.

Restoration efforts will likely continue throughout the evening.

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