While thousands of people are getting their power back on, thousands more are still without power after the heavy snowstorm blew through northern Michigan late last week.
As of 9:15 pm on Sunday, Presque Isle Electric and Gas Cooperative had approximately 5,790 customers without power.
At the peak of the storm, PIEGC reported over 21,000 people without power, but extra crews were able to restore power for almost 16,000 households already.
The utility says efforts are continuing around the clock, but progress is slow due to deep snow, broken trees and extensive damage.
Current estimates show that outages may extend into Christmas and possibly beyond, the utility says.
Consumers Energy is reporting 2,500 customers statewide without power.
"We have a significant number of employees, contractors and equipment focused on the hardest hit areas in northern and western Michigan," said Garrick Rochow, the utility's vice president for energy delivery. "We expect to have power restored to nearly all customers affected by this strong storm by midnight tonight (Sunday)."
More than 1,800 Consumers Energy and contract employees have been working on storm restoration efforts, including crews from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
To see the current outages, click here.
