More than 10,000 Consumers Energy customers lost power on Memorial Day in southwestern Kent County. The outage struck just before 11 a.m. on Monday, May 25, leaving residents in Wyoming, Grandville, and Byron Township without electricity on the holiday.

Byron Center, the unincorporated community at the heart of Byron Township, fell within the affected zone. The outage map from Consumers Energy showed a dense cluster of outages centered on three substations.

What Caused the Outage

The outage was initially attributed to a transmission line operated by ITC Michigan. ITC Michigan reported that a 138kv electric transmission line experienced an outage around 11 a.m.

Crews later determined the real cause was different. The outage resulted from a fault on a piece of Consumers Energy equipment called a tap. That tap connects the ITC line to Consumers Energy substations.

"Consumers Energy and ITC crews were able identify the cause of the large outage in Kent County. The outage was caused by a fault on Consumer's Energy equipment called a tap which connects the ITC line to Consumers Energy substations. Three substations were originally impacted and crews were able to isolate the impact and restore two of the three substations. Crews are actively working to reroute the remainder of the customers to restore their power and complete repairs."

That statement was provided by Consumers Energy to WZZM13 shortly after 2 p.m., according to their reporting.

Restoration Timeline

The outage affected 10,816 customers as of 1:20 p.m., according to the Consumers Energy outage map cited by WZZM13. Over 2,000 customers had their power restored by 2:15 p.m.

By 3:30 p.m., approximately 5,600 customers remained without power, according to WOOD TV reporting. Consumers Energy crews had restored two of the three impacted substations by 2:30 p.m.

Estimated restoration times ranged from 2:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., according to the Consumers Energy outage map.

According to the WOOD TV update, all power was restored around 5 p.m.

Why It Matters for Byron Center

Byron Center is a census-designated place within Byron Township with a population of 7,431 as of the 2020 census, according to Wikipedia. The community sits just south of Grand Rapids and is home to Byron Center Public Schools, local businesses, and residents who were caught without power on one of the year's first long holiday weekends.

The outage came on a day when many families were hosting Memorial Day gatherings. Barbecues, coolers, and holiday meal prep all depend on electricity. For Byron Center residents, the blackout disrupted holiday plans for several hours.

Bigger Picture

ITC Michigan operates more than 9,100 circuit miles of power transmission lines and 403 substations across Michigan, according to WZZM13.

The outage highlights the interdependence between ITC Michigan's transmission infrastructure and Consumers Energy's local distribution network. A single tap failure cascaded into a widespread outage affecting three substations and thousands of customers across multiple communities.

Consumers Energy and ITC Michigan crews worked jointly to isolate the fault and restore service throughout the afternoon.