Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
August 7, 2000    8:00am

Don Sawruk, President
(906) 632-5150

Edison Sault Concurs with State Public Service Commission Order

Officials at Edison Sault Electric Company concur with the State's Public Service Commission in its order to review and assess the adequacy of the electric distribution system serving Mackinac Island. The order, issued Friday, is in response to an extended outage that affected the Island last week.

"We will cooperate to the fullest with the State's review of our system and its ability to effectively serve our customers on Mackinac Island," said Don Sawruk, President of Edison Sault. "Last week's outage highlighted the Island's vulnerability to operate without electricity for an extended period of time."

The Island's outage began Saturday, July 22, with intermittent interruptions in service. While Edison Sault crews were investigating the cause and working to restore complete service, the outage became prolonged beginning Monday, July 24. Crews worked around the clock to repair the five affected submarine cables that provide service to the Island from the mainland at St. Ignace. Although seven cables serve the Island, at least three must be operable for the Island to have power.

Six generators that were ferried to the Island provided power beginning early Friday, July 28, until the affected cables were either partially replaced or repaired early last week.

The PSC's order also addresses previous power outages that were of shorter duration. Edison Sault will prepare and file the appropriate documents with the PSC as prescribed in the order prior to a public hearing on the Island on or before September 15.

"We look forward to working with the Public Service Commission, the City of Mackinac Island, and the State Park Commission to address their collective concerns and develop a plan for the future," Sawruk said. "Edison Sault is in the business of providing electricity to its customers. When we aren't able to do that effectively, we're not doing our job. Reaching consensus on a solution is the only way to address this issue."

To contact Customer Service, send mail to customerserv@edisonsault.com.

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Last modified: August 16, 2002