In late March of 2025, a series of fierce ice and windstorms struck a small portion of northern Wisconsin but left a much more lasting and destructive impact on a number of counties in Michigan’s northern lower peninsula. The severity of the damage in Michigan is still being felt to this day, as the fiscal implications are front and center in a state and national debate for FEMA disaster assistance for two of their electric cooperatives. More on this in a bit.
Back in Wisconsin, Washington Island Electric Cooperative General Manager Robert Cornell reported at the time, “I’m going on 23 years here, and this is the worst storm that I have ever seen. There was not a section of line that was not affected.” In this month’s article titled “The FEMA Emergency”, Julie Lund’s feature story gives you a deeper look into the storm’s lasting physical and financial impact in both Wisconsin and Michigan.
While Washington Island faced challenges with recovery, they fully restored power within six days with the help of utility crews from several other electric cooperatives. Michigan, on the other hand, particularly the two electric cooperatives previously mentioned—Great Lakes Energy (GLE) and Presque Isle Electric and Gas (PIE&G)—would see nearly 100,000 customers without power for as long as 20 days and would incur costs of over $300 million in restoration efforts. Nearly 6,000 poles had to be replaced, and more than 8,000 miles of line was affected and restored. And this was just for these two cooperatives, let alone what other areas of the state faced.
So, you’re probably thinking everything must be fine and good because they’ve had time to recover, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has likely provided federal disaster assistance. You’d be wrong.
Alger Delta Electric Cooperative Lineworker Brandon Lind works to restore power in the March 2025 storm. Photo courtesy of Alger Delta.
In October, FEMA denied Michigan’s appeal for federal dollars for GLE and PIE&G. The funding, called Category F Public Assistance, is available to help cooperatives access the financial resources necessary to rebuild after a significant natural disaster like the March storm. As reported, if no federal assistance comes, PIE&G is looking at $150 million in recovery costs, or about $4,500 per member. GLE storm rebuilding and recovery efforts are about 40 times its typical annual storm budget. This isn’t a sustainable option for the cooperatives, or any rural electric cooperative for that matter. It’s not just a Michigan problem, either. We’ve seen disaster assistance denials in numerous other states, including Wisconsin.
This is one reason your local cooperative leaders are supporting FEMA reform in Congress. H.R. 4669, the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025, is legislation in the House of Representatives that would streamline and expedite the delivery of public assistance disaster relief funds. Having passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last September by a vote of 57–3, the bill would speed up aid, allow co-ops to rebuild their systems stronger, and reimburse co-ops for the interest paid on loans to repair their systems while awaiting FEMA funding.
According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, grassroots electric cooperative member activists have sent more than 60,000 letters to lawmakers, and local cooperative leaders have sent an additional 2,000 letters, asking our federal elected officials to pass H.R. 4669 this year. WECA is strongly urging our state’s congressional delegation to support the bill.
Our electric cooperatives are incredibly resilient and nimble in their work to provide you with safe, affordable, and reliable electricity. History has shown us that when natural disasters strike, the work crews are up to the challenge of restoring and rebuilding the systems that bring you power. We also need to recognize that when natural disasters hit, we must work together to rebuild our homes, businesses, and communities. I believe this is a core function of government and of who we are as Americans. FEMA reform can make this a reality.
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