[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 173 (Friday, October 20, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 20, 2023

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker Pro Tempore, today I pay tribute to the 
hardworking men and women of the Lansing Board of Water and Light, a 
municipally-owned public utility in Michigan's 7th Congressional 
District for their efforts to restore service following storms that 
moved through Michigan on Thursday, August 24 and Friday, August 25, 
2023. In a matter of hours, six tornadoes swept across the state, 
leaving a trail of devastation from west to east. Five people died, 
dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed, and hundreds of 
thousands of Michiganders were left in the dark due to power outages.
  Under these most pressing circumstances, more than 40 percent of 
LBWL's customers were affected by the storm, including 612 unique power 
outage locations, 835 downed wires, 47 broken poles, and 187 
transformers knocked offline. In the challenging days that followed the 
storms, LBWL sent an unprecedented number of crews into the field, 
calling in mutual aid from across Michigan and around the country. In 
total, 45 tree crews, 57 line crews, and 162 spotters worked around the 
clock in difficult conditions, restoring power to 98 percent of 
customers in a matter of days.
  That effort was born of experience. After a similarly devastating ice 
storm hit the region 10 years ago, LBWL implemented all the 
recommendations from an independent investigation into the storm 
response, spending millions on proactive tree-trimming, expanding 
mutual aid agreements, hardening its communication plan, and revamping 
the entire corporate structure. This organizational soul-searching has 
paid off, with vastly improved reliability and response time when it 
matters most.
  The work of LBWL crews, and crews from across the country, was 
difficult and even dangerous, requiring long hours and high skill to 
bring the power back for hundreds of customers. That hard work and 
dedication deserve recognition here.

                          ____________________