ALPENA POWER COMPANY
401 N. Ninth Ave Alpena, Michigan 49707
For Immediate Release
March 18, 2026 7:00AM
Contact:
Ken Dragiewicz, President and COO
solutions@alpenapower.com
OUTAGE UPDATE
Current Situation
As of 7 am this morning 62% of our customers have been restored leaving approximately 6,425 customers without power. All available crews are working to restore outages including assistance from Thunder Bay Tree Service , The City of Lowell, The City of Bay City, City of Sturgis, City of Lansing, Homeworks Tri County Cooperative, Thumb Electric Cooperative, the Hydaker-Wheatlake Company and Premium Utility Contracting with additional crews from Thunder Bay Tree and Premium Utility Contracting starting today. In total 37 contract and mutual aid crews are assisting Alpena Power employees in the restoration effort. We express our thanks to the utilities and contractors helping in this difficult time.
Yesterday afternoon all rural substations were restored by 9pm last night 32 out of 38 main circuits have been energized. We are actively working to restore power in nearly all areas of our service territory.
Restoration Process
The restoration process is designed to get essential services energized first then the largest number of customers on as quickly as possible. APC’s process consists of five stages:
1. Essential functions such as hospitals, 911, police, fire, water, sewer, etc.
2. Services such as fuel, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc.
3. Main feeder and distribution lines
4. Areas with the largest number of customers
5. Restore individual homes.
We are currently in phase 4 in and around the City of Alpena and will be moving into phase 5 later today and tomorrow. Rural areas are between phase 3 and 4 depending on location. The hardest hit areas around Ossineke, Hubbard Lake and Spruce will have the longest outages likely lasting to late this week or in some cases this weekend.
How to check on an outage
One tool that can help keep you informed is our webpage outage viewer available at: https://www.alpenapower.com/outage-center/. A customer can zoom into their location and see if their outage has been reported. If you are in a reported area, we have the outage information and will get a crew dispatched as soon as one is available.
Where to get help
If you are in need, please check local media outlets and social media of Alpena County, Alpena Public Schools, and other local resources for lists of warming shelters, and resources for help.
OXYGEN REFILL STATION
MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena is hosting a portable trailer to refill oxygen tanks for area emergency personnel and community members who rely on portable oxygen. The refill trailer will be in the visitor parking lot near the HealthPlex South Entrance on the MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena campus, 1501 W. Chisholm Street. Volunteers will be available to fill tanks Tuesday, March 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All portable oxygen tanks without regulators can be filled at the trailer. Individuals should bring their tanks with regulators removed. Volunteers will be on-site to assist with the refill process.
WARMING SHELTERS
• The Merchant’s building at the Alpena County Fairgrounds will be open overnight but doors close at 9 p.m. so please be in by 9 p.m. if you have any need.
• Alpena Township Hall 4385 US 23 North, Sunday through Monday, 24 hours. Walk-ins accepted, no documentation required, no fees
CODE RED – Alpena County Alert System
• CodeRED® is an emergency notification system that enables local public safety personnel to notify residents and businesses by telephone, text message, email and more of time-sensitive information, emergencies or urgent alerts.
To sign up for CodeRED, text ALPENA to 24639 or visit Notifications can be delivered via text, email and/or phone call. There is no cost and numerous users can share one account.
CALL 2-1-1
Call 2-1-1 to get information on local assistance or text your zip code to 898-211
Summary
As we begin the third day of storm recovery, I want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding and the community for their support.
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