The recent announcement of an approved federal disaster declaration to help Northern Michigan recover from the March ice storm is good news. After having to rebuild nearly our entire electric grid at an estimated cost of $150 million, we welcome any and all state and federal support to help offset the extremely high expenses needed to recover from this unprecedented ice storm. Once more details become available about how these funds will be divided across the region, we will share more details with our members. Our hope is this announcement is the start of the conversation about disaster relief and not the end.
