Consumers Energy apologizes for equipment failure, thanks residents for turning down heat

JACKSON, Mich. -- Consumers Energy thanked Michiganders for turning their heat down during a press call on Thursday.

Michiganders were asked to adjust their thermostats Wednesday evening after an equipment failure resulted in a fire at the compressor station in Macomb County Wednesday morning and to safeguard the grid due to extreme weather usage.

RELATED LINK: Consumers Energy customers asked to keep heat turned down until Friday afternoon

"We are sorry for the situation. We are disappointed by the system failure. We are grateful for the actions that residents took after we asked them to adjust their thermostats," said Consumers Energy CEO Patti Poppe.

Poppe says that on a typical winter day in Michigan, the compressor system sees a demand of 2 billion cubic feet of gas.

Yesterday before the fire took place, the system met the demand of compressing 3.3 billion cubic feet of gas.

It was forecasted that there would be a demand of 3.7 billion cubic feet today, but since residents and 79 companies across mid-Michigan dialed back the thermostat, there was only a demand of 3 billion cubic feet.

In turn, that did help and will continue to aid crews repair the issue at the station.

Consumers Energy is asking that people keep the heat down through Friday afternoon.