WARREN, Mich. - Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said there was almost a total shutdown of the natural gas system overnight in Macomb County.

Fouts posted on his Facebook page that he was awoken around 12:30 a.m. to an official call that there was a threat of a complete shutoff of all gas power to the city due to a fire at the Consumers Energy facility in Ray Township.

Consumers Energy arranged to have General Motors and Fiat Chrysler shut down for a few days to avoid the dire situation, Fouts said.

Warren police were updated by Macomb emergency management that Consumers Energy gas to 130,000 customers in Warren might have to be cut off at 7 a.m. Thursday.

Fouts said it wasn't just Warren that would have been affected, but all of Metro Detroit.

Macomb County's deputy county executive said officials were looking at worst-case scenarios overnight.

Authorities said it was a real possibility that gas would be cut off in the county from 23 Mile Road to the south, including all of Warren and parts of Oakland County.

When General Motors and Fiat Chrysler agreed to halt production to conserve energy, the crisis of thousands of customers being left in the cold was averted, officials said.

You can watch Shawn Ley's full story in the video posted above.</s>
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made a Wednesday night plea to citizens: Turn down natural gas-powered thermostats to 65° or lower until Friday at noon.
• The request comes as the Midwest is gripped by freezing temperatures caused by a polar vortex.
• Earlier on Wednesday there was an “unexpected incident” at a gas compressor station in Southeast Michigan in Macomb County, according to Consumers Energy.
• “We understand the timing of our request is not ideal given today’s cold temperatures, however, without additional reductions, we run the risk of not being able to deliver natural gas to families and critical facilities across Michigan – a scenario none of us want to encounter,” Consumers Energy tweeted on Wednesday night.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made a Wednesday night plea to citizens: Turn natural gas-powered thermostats to 65 degrees or lower until Friday at noon.

The ask comes as the Midwest is gripped by freezing temperatures caused by a polar vortex.

“I’m coming to you now to ask for your help,” the lawmaker said in a video statement. “Due to extremely high demand for natural gas with these record low temperatures and a facility incident, Consumers Energy has asked that everyone who is able to turn down their thermostats through Friday at noon so we can all get through this with minimal harm.”

Earlier on Wednesday there was an “unexpected incident” at a gas compressor station in Southeast Michigan, according to Consumers Energy. A fire at the compressor station means that “all gas flow from the compressor station has been shut in until safety and damage assessments can be completed.”

Following the incident, Consumers Energy began asking both business and residential consumers to “temporarily reduce gas usage” to keep all citizens warm during the polar vortex.

“We understand the timing of our request is not ideal given today’s cold temperatures, however, without additional reductions, we run the risk of not being able to deliver natural gas to families and critical facilities across Michigan – a scenario none of us want to encounter,” Consumers Energy tweeted on Wednesday night.

“The term polar vortex describes the mass of low-pressure cold air that circulates in the stratosphere above the Arctic and Antarctic regions,” Business Insider’s Aylin Woodward explains (in a very helpful piece). “Sometimes the circulation of the polar vortex weakens during the winter, causing surges of frigid air to splinter off and drift south.”

Since Saturday, the cold weather has been blamed for around a dozen deaths in “Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota,” Reuters reports. The dangerously cold temperatures have led to flights and train services being cancelled, along with the closure of schools, businesses, and non-essential government entities.

At the time of writing it was minus-13 degrees Farenheit, in Lansing, Michigan, by Friday the high is expected to be 18 degrees Farenheit – and at noon, residents will be able to turn up their heat. Until then Michiganders are being asked to do their part.

“You can play a role in helping people across the state survive these extreme temperatures,” Whitmer said. “Please do. We’re calling on every Michigander to do your part and help us weather this storm together.”

Resources for Michigan residents combatting the cold can be found here and here.</s>RAY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS Detroit/ AP) – After a fire at a gas compressor station in Macomb County, Consumers Energy is asking customers to reduce their use of natural gas today.

Consumers says all gas flow from the station was shut off, and it activated natural gas peaking storage fields to help meet the demand for gas to heat homes and businesses.

Residents and businesses can reduce gas usage by doing the following:



LOOK AT THERMOSTAT SETTINGS: Save energy while staying warm by setting your heat to a lower temperature. Use your programmable thermostat to set your heat at 65 degrees when you are home and 62 degrees when you are away for less than 5 hours.

BUSINESS REDUCTION OF PROCESSES: The company is also encouraging industrial and business customers to temporarily reduce processes.

SEAL & SHUT WINDOWS AND DOORS: Check for leaks in your windows and doors by feeling around for cool air. Also, please ensure all windows and doors are closed tightly.

© 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>In Michigan, the utility Consumers Energy is asking customers to reduce their use of natural gas. Also, the entity that manages the electrical grid wants customers to use less electricity. This comes as people experience the coldest temperatures in a generation. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks with Michigan Public Radio energy and transportation reporter Tracy Samilton (@PubRadioTracy).</s>The deep freeze is putting gas and power grids to the test.

In the midst of some of the coldest temperatures in years, utility companies in parts of the upper Midwest have asked customers to turn down their thermostats to ensure that there's enough natural gas to go around.

Ahead of the plunge, grid operators throughout the Midwest had said they were prepared. But this cold snap will be a big test of the resiliency of the energy grid, reports the trade publication E&E News. "The event will be a test of the bulk power system's resilience, and especially the ability of coal, natural gas and wind generation to deliver power when called upon."

In Michigan, Consumers Energy — which serves 1.8 million residents — asked customers to set the temperature to 65 degrees or less until noon on Friday. In a Facebook Live video, CEO Patti Poppe pleaded with residents to do their part. The low temperatures created "record-breaking demand" for natural gas. The system worked perfectly, she said, until a fire broke out at a major natural gas compressor station Wednesday morning, making it harder to deliver gas to customers.

If customers ignored the request, they could be in for brief, localized shutoffs, the Detroit News reported. "This truly is an unprecedented crisis," Poppe said. "We have never been in this situation before."

General Motors said it would suspend operations at more than 11 plants, and asked 20,000 employees at its Warren Tech Center to stay home through Friday, according to Crain's Detroit Business. And Ford Motor Co. said it would lower the temperature at some plants and stop heat treatment and paint production, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"I'm asking that you please, tonight, turn down your thermostat," Governor Gretchen Whitmer echoed in an online video, citing the Consumers Energy request. "Every one of us can play a role in making sure that we get through this with minimal harm. We're calling on every Michigander to do your part and to help us weather this storm together."

Late Wednesday night, "cell phones chimed with an emergency alert" again asking customers to lower their heat to 65 or less, reported Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton.

DTE Energy, which provides electricity to millions of customers in southeast Michigan, also asked customers to reduce their electricity usage. "While DTE's plants are running well, our system is connected to energy grids in other states and Canada that are experiencing issues due to the extreme weather," said Christy Wicke, executive director of generation optimization. "Because of this, we are asking for your support to ensure everyone can stay warm."

In Minnesota, Xcel Energy asked customers statewide to keep the heat to 63 degrees or lower through Thursday morning. About 150 customers had already lost natural gas service, and Xcel offered to put them up in hotels, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

The storm is recreating conditions similar to the 2014 Polar Vortex, trade publication Utility Dive reports. That weather event is often used by Trump administration officials to justify its proposed grid resilience rule, "which would provide cost recovery to plants that keep 90 days of fuel supplies onsite," Utility Drive said.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which monitors the energy grid across parts of the U.S. and Canada, had warned operators to be ready for frigid temperatures from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, trade publication RTO Insider reported. The arctic blast even knocked out power to MISO's offices on Wednesday. MISO declared a "Maximum Generation Event" for Thursday morning, "stirring to life idle power plants from Minnesota to Louisiana to meet demand," the Star Tribune reported.</s>Record-breaking cold from the polar vortex, combined with a fire at a gas compressor station in Michigan, is causing utility companies in the Midwest to ask customers to turn thermostats down, even as bitter conditions drag on.

The blaze at the Consumers Energy natural gas compressor station north of Detroit on Wednesday prompted Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to ask all residents in the Lower Peninsula part of the state to lower thermostats to 65 degrees or below through Friday.

"I’m coming to you now to ask for your help," she said in a statement. "Due to extremely high demand for natural gas with these record low temperatures and a facility incident, Consumers Energy has asked that everyone who is able to turn down their thermostats through Friday at noon so we can all get through this with minimal harm."

No one was injured in the fire Wednesday at Consumers Energy's Ray Natural Gas Compressor Station in Macomb County. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The company said all gas flow from the station was shut off, and that it activated natural gas peaking storage fields to help meet demand for gas to heat homes and businesses.

Consumers Energy's CEO Patti Poppe made an appeal Wednesday night for customers to reduce their natural gas usage. Localized outages were possible for some homes and businesses if demand isn't reduced.

An emergency alert was sent late Wednesday to cellphones asking people to lower thermostats, and Consumers Energy asked its largest business customers, such as automakers, to reduce natural gas usage.

Consumers Energy said in a statement Thursday that it's "cautiously optimistic" its requests to curb natural gas use are "having a positive effect."

"However, with Thursday’s continued historically cold weather, we ask that conservation measures continue through the end of the day Friday, Feb. 1," the company said.

The incident caused General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler to either close or reduce shifts Thursday morning at certain plants to help conserve gas usage, FOX2 reported.

Similar requests were made in Minnesota, where utility Xcel Energy asked all its customers in the state to reduce their thermostats to 63 degrees due to a natural gas shortage in parts of the state.

The utility said Thursday it was asking people to keep reducing thermostats until at least 9 a.m. on Thursday.

"This step can help ensure that all of our customers continue to have gas service during this bitterly cold weather," Xcel said.

The company made the announcement just hours after first asking residents in the Princeton, Minn. area to do the same after a shortage was reported on Wednesday, according to FOX9.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

At least 10 people -- including a college student and Indiana police officer -- are dead as a result of the bitter, record-breaking deep freeze brought on by the polar vortex that's slammed the Midwest most of the week.

Though the National Weather Service said temperatures will "slowly begin to moderate," the bone-chilling cold on Thursday still shuttered schools and caused the U.S. Postal Service to suspend mail delivery in several states.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Consumers Energy is asking residents to continue conserving natural gas by keeping thermostats at 65 degrees through Friday.

The company says that Michigan residents have been conserving gas since their request on Wednesday and the State of Michigan’s alert Wednesday night. Conservation by residents who receive their gas service from companies other than Consumers Energy is also helpful and has been making a difference. They say they are “cautiously optimistic” that the requests to reduce gas use are having a positive effect.

A fire broke out Wednesday morning at the Ray Compressor Station in Macomb County. That station is now partially in service and repairs at the facility are continuing.

The call for conservation is in effect through Friday, February 1.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Co said late Wednesday it will suspend operations at 11 Michigan plants and its Warren Tech Center, after a utility made an emergency appeal to users to conserve natural gas during extreme winter cold.

The largest U.S. automaker said it had been asked by Consumers Energy, a unit of CMS Energy Corp, to suspend operations to allow the utility to manage supply issues.

GM said workers were told not to report for the shifts at its Orion Assembly, Flint Assembly, Lansing Delta Township Assembly and Lansing Grand River Assembly plants, as well as other stamping and transmission plants.

Workers at its Warren Tech Center were also told to stay home Thursday.

In a video message posted on Facebook, CMS Energy Chief Executive Patricia Poppe said large companies, including Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Ford Motor Co and GM, had agreed to “interrupt” production schedules through Friday to tackle the issue prompted by a fire at a Michigan facility and the record-breaking cold.

Ford and Fiat Chrysler did not immediately comment.

Poppe said the cuts by large businesses were not enough, and urged Michigan residents to turn down thermostats as much as they could and cut natural gas use to protect critical facilities like hospitals and nursing homes.</s>General Motors is temporarily halting operations at 11 Michigan assembly plants and its Warren Tech Center campus after Consumers Energy urgently asked users to conserve their natural gas, reports Reuters. The utility reportedly ran into supply issues due to the record-breaking frigid winter temperatures as well as a fire at a compressor station in Macomb County.

As of Wednesday evening, GM employees were told to stay home from its assembly plants in Orion, Flint, Lansing Delta Township, Lansing Grand River, and a number of other stamping and transmission plants. Warren Tech Center employees are also taking the day off. The automaker has not announced when work would resume but Consumers Energy is asking Michiganers to cut back on the natural gas use until at least the end of the workweek.

In a Facebook post, the energy provider says it's "cautiously optimistic" that its calls for conservation are helping the cause and the Macomb County compressor station is now partially in service.</s>DETROIT (AP) — Auto plants and other big energy users throughout Southeast Michigan are shutting down or limiting operations due to a natural gas shortage caused by a fire and frigid weather.

At least 18 factories and other facilities run by General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler were affected Thursday. It’s not clear when they’ll resume normal operations.

The fire hit a Consumers Energy natural gas compressor station north of Detroit on Wednesday as record-cold temperatures swept over the region.

The utility says gas flow from the station was shut off, putting Michigan residents at risk of brief service interruptions in subzero temperatures.

Fiat Chrysler closed its truck assembly plants in Warren and Sterling Heights, Michigan, while Ford reduced operations at two transmission factories and a plant that stamps parts for the hot-selling Ford Ranger small pickup near Detroit. Ranger production was unaffected for now.

General Motors was hit much harder, suspending operations at factories in Flint, Lansing, Saginaw, Pontiac, Orion Township and Bay City, Michigan. The Flint plant is gearing up for the launch of new heavy-duty pickup trucks. Even General Motors’ sprawling technical center in Warren, Michigan, north of Detroit, was closed and its roughly 20,000 employees were told to stay home. About 30,000 employees were affected at GM alone.

Only factories served by Jackson, Michigan-based Consumers Energy were affected. Plants powered by the region’s other utility, DTE Energy, had no disruptions.

Automakers were hoping that the plants can return to normal operations as temperatures moderate on Saturday and into next week, but they weren’t sure when that will happen.

If the natural gas shortage lasts only a few days, the ecocnomic impact of the shutdowns is likely to be small. Automakers usually can make up for lost production days by increasing assembly line speeds, but if the plants are closed or limited for a long time, that gets harder. Workers will get paid even though their buildings are closed.

“We are assessing the impact on our operations, but we expect the impact will be minimal. We will do what is right for our customers, our employees and our communities – recognizing our priority has been to support the urgent energy needs across the state,” GM spokeswoman Kimberly Carpenter said in a statement.

Other businesses also have been affected. Spartan Motors, which makes emergency and other large vehicles, suspended manufacturing in Charlotte, Michigan, near Lansing, idling about 800 workers. It plans to resume work on Sunday evening. Dart Container Corp., switched natural gas boilers to oil and curtailed some operations near Lansing that use natural gas.

Hemlock Semiconductor, with operations in the Saginaw area about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Detroit, cut production to help Consumers Energy. Hemlock is a large electricity user.

Consumers Energy’s CEO Patti Poppe made an appeal Wednesday night for customers to reduce their natural gas usage. Localized outages were possible for some homes and businesses if demand isn’t reduced.

An emergency alert was sent late Wednesday to cellphones asking people to lower thermostats to 65 degrees (18 degrees Celsius) or below through Friday. And Consumers Energy asked its largest business customers, such as automakers, to reduce natural gas usage.

Consumers Energy said in a statement Thursday that it’s “cautiously optimistic” its requests to curb natural gas use are “having a positive effect.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also appeared in a video online Wednesday night and said the request to lower thermostats was for those in the Lower Peninsula. Temperatures in the state were at their lowest levels of the week, with readings around negative 12 degrees (negative 24 degrees Celsius) in the Detroit area and at bitterly cold levels statewide.

No one was injured in the fire Wednesday at Consumers Energy’s Ray Natural Gas Compressor Station in Macomb County. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The company said all gas flow from the station was shut off, and that it activated natural gas peaking storage fields to help meet demand for gas to heat homes and businesses.

© 2019, The Village Reporter and/or The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
After a fire at a Consumers Energy natural gas compressor station, Michigan residents are asked to turn down their heat to conserve natural gas.