DETROIT – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is officially going on the record saying what she believes the state’s power companies should do during this rough time.
For some families this is the longest they have had to go without power. They’re happy Nessel is getting involved to place some newly added pressure on these major power companies.
Read: Michigan AG calls on DTE, Consumers to automatically credit customers amid power outages
Jawanna Lucas and her three kids have been living in the dark for days. They have been forced to do everything from charge phones in the car to using a neighbor’s generator next door.
“We out here. We don’t have no power. We trying to push through but ain’t nothing we do about it,” said Lucas.
Nessel is coming to the rescue in a way.
“They know if their customers have lost power. They should just automatically be crediting so people don’t have to go through that process in the first place,” said Nessel.
Lucas and others are saying the credits they’ve been offered so far simply aren’t enough.
Read more: Get Caught Up: Nearly a million Michigan households lose power -- Why does this keep happening?
“I need something, but I know I don’t need no $25. I need more than $100 too. I lost groceries, fresh groceries,” Lucas added.
Nessel says these companies need to also find other means to help the customers affected during these rough and unfortunate times.
“I really believe that there needs to be a separate fund that’s established by every single one of the utility companies to assist people once they are displaced over the course of these storms,” said Nessel.
“This is the second month in a row we done had like a catastrophic event. This is too much,” Lucas said.
Both companies are following the Michigan Public Service Commission’s guidelines. DTE has started identifying qualifying customers. Those who qualify will be notified by the end of the week. They sent Local 4 News this statement.
“We know many of our customers have been challenged by the recent weather and resulting power outages, and we’re working to make the reliability credit process as easy as possible for them. DTE started proactively identifying qualifying customers as defined by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) over the weekend and will be applying the credit to those customers’ accounts within 45 days. Customers who qualify will receive notification directly from DTE this week,” the statement read.
How to apply for Consumers Energy outage credit
For more information, click here.