MARQUETTE - About 200 customers on the Keweenaw Peninsula remained without electricity Tuesday night as Upper Peninsula Power Co. utility crews continued to work on restoring service after thunderstorms packing high winds rumbled through the region earlier in the day.
The storms dumped more than three inches of rain on some locations in the western part of the Upper Peninsula and UPPCO said hundreds of its customers were left without power after strong winds knocked tree branches down onto electric lines.
UPPCO officials expected all of the power to be restored by sometime today.
"As always, UPPCO is reminding people to stay away from downed power lines or lines that have been tangled in trees. Assume all power lines are energized," the company's website advised.
UPPCO said customers arriving to their cottage or cabin who have incurred damage to their service connection or equipment will need it repaired by a private licensed electrical contractor prior to having their power turned back on.
"Typically, a tree or branch falls on the service line to the home and pulls the customer's service pole/meter periscope away from the side of the house. The maintenance of the service pole/meter periscope is the responsibility of the customer," UPPCO said.
By Friday morning, UPPCO reported the storms had left 35 separate outages, affecting more than 800 customers in Houghton and Baraga counties. There were another 600 customers without power in the Gwinn and Ishpeming areas.
To see real-time outage information, visit: www.uppco.com/outagesummary/view/outagegrid.aspx The information is updated every 15 minutes.
John Pepin can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. His email address is jpepin@miningjournal. net.