The Au Sable River Canoe Marathon celebrates its 76th anniversary this summer – and we continue to proudly sponsor the signature Northern Michigan event.

As the race nears, the region’s electric reliability is top of mind for all of us at Consumers Energy. And we’re excited to share several projects we’re working on – including three projects not far from I-75.

With two complete and another close to wrapping up, the $33.6 million investment will help us achieve goals within the Reliability Roadmap, our plan for a smarter and stronger electric grid.

Here are a few Northern Michigan highlights:

  • We’re replacing the Houghton Heights Substation
  • We’ve replaced the Higgins Substation and
  • Major upgrades were done to the Beaver Creek Substation

“These project upgrades are critical to Northern Michigan’s future when it comes to commercial, residential and industrial growth,” said Rich Castle, community affairs manager in Northern Michigan. “These projects provide an opportunity to upgrade aging infrastructure and equipment in Northern Michigan while enhancing safety and reliability in the delivery of energy to our customers.”

Overhaul at Houghton Heights

At Houghton Heights, we’re investing $18 million in the Houghton Lakes Substation, located at the crossroads of Old US Highway 27 and Knapp Road. It will provide power to 6,140 customers. The existing substation will be removed once the new one is fully operational.

This project will require installation of a new high voltage distribution line, with construction scheduled to begin in November 2024 and expected to be fully operational in February 2026.

We’ll be retiring the Markey Line, which is an existing 46kV line on the northwest side of Houghton Lake in a swamp. Because of its location, this portion of the line can’t be rebuilt and creates many other challenges:

  • Some of the poles on the Markey Line are difficult to inspect and pose a significant threat to the reliability of the line.
  • The Markey Line and its three existing substations of 13,000 customers have had multiple outages due to the line’s current location and condition.
  • When outages do occur, they take much longer to fix.

“As with all of our projects, we remain committed to communicating clearly about these plans with landowners,” Castle said. “Our field representatives are reaching out directly to each landowner to discuss easement rights and address any concerns around construction.”

And reliability isn’t our only focus. We know the importance of the area’s natural resources – so we’re taking care in our work.

“While designing the proposed route of the new HVD line, careful attention was made to minimize the project’s environmental impact upon wetlands,” Castle said.

Higgins Substation

We’ve also invested $13 million in overhauling the Higgins Substation, which serves over 32,000 customers.

“This new substation is already up and running, and the community feedback before, during and after construction has been overwhelmingly positive,” Castle said. “We look forward to helping our customers get the reliable service they count on us for each and every day.”

Beaver Creek Substation

The Beaver Creek Substation, located in Grayling, serves about 10,000 customers.

We recently invested $2.6 million in upgrades to the substation, including replacing an aging transformer.

“The Beaver Creek project is critical to the area since it focuses more on industrial partners,” said Castle. “We have stressed to residents and businesses the importance of upgrading our system to fulfill their future needs when it comes to reliable service.”

One of the businesses the substation serves is ADJ Forest Products, a full-service sawmill in Grayling with about 50 employees.

Tim Neff, general manager of ADJ Forest Products, said he appreciated past efforts by Consumers Energy to keep him informed during the upgrades.

“We had power the whole time and zero issues,” he said. “Looking forward, anything that can be done to improve reliability and consistency of supply will always be welcomed by us. They are both critical components to our business now and in the future.”