The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Auto plants restart as natural gas shortage ends
DETROIT — Dozens of Michigan auto plants and large commercial buildings that were forced to close or cut operations Thursday due to a natural gas shortage can resume production at midnight.
Consumers Energy had asked the plants and other big gas users to curtail work for fear of running out of gas for homes and other critical buildings during a record-setting deep freeze.
The shortage was caused by a fire Wednesday that knocked out a natural gas compressor station north of Detroit just as temperatures plummeted.
Consumers Energy CEO Patti Poppe said Thursday afternoon that crews had repaired part of the fire-damaged station and ample gas supplies are now available.
General Motors, which had shuttered more than a dozen plants in the Detroit, Lansing, Flint and Saginaw areas, already was restarting factories. The company said workers would return to three Lansing-area factories on Thursday’s night shift, and other announcements were expected.
At least 18 factories and other facilities run by General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler were affected.
Consumers Energy, the state’s largest natural gas provider, said gas flow from the compressor station had to be shut off, leaving Michigan residents at risk of brief service interruptions in subzero tempera-
tures. The utility said more than 100 of its largest industrial customers cut gas use to help get through the shortage.
Fiat Chrysler closed its truck assembly plants in Warren and Sterling Heights, Michigan, while Ford reduced operations at two transmission factories and a plant that stamps parts for the hot-selling Ford Ranger small pickup near Detroit. Ranger production was unaffected.
General Motors was hit far harder, suspending operations at factories in Flint, Lansing, Saginaw, Pontiac, Orion Township and Bay City, Michigan. A Flint plant is gearing up for the launch of new heavyduty pickup trucks. Even General Motors’ sprawling technical center in Warren, Michigan, north of Detroit, was closed, and its roughly 20,000 employees were told to stay home. About 30,000 employees were affected at GM alone.
Only factories served by Jackson, Michigan-based Consumers Energy were affected. Plants powered by the region’s other utility, DTE Energy, had no disruptions.
Consumers Energy had asked its 1.7 million customers and others to continue to set their thermostats at 65 degrees or lower — 62 degrees if they are away from home for more than five hours.