Consumers Energy and ITC have a planned blackout scheduled for Thursday, March 12.

The electrical outage will start at 11Pp.m. and affect most of Hopkins and Wayland townships, as well as the northern parts of Martin and Watson townships.

Electrical crews need to cut the power to upgrade some high-voltage lines in the area.  The power companies expect the work to take no more than eight hours, with power restored shortly thereafter.

Consumers Energy officials stated that they will monitor for extreme cold temperatures.  Should the weather prevent the work from being done, the power companies have a back-up date of March 19.

Prior to the outage, the more than 3,000 affected customers will receive a postcard from Consumers Energy.