According to the US Department of Energy, power cuts and blackouts cost the US economy an eye-watering US$150bn every single year, with the average customer experiencing around five and a half hours without power over the course of a year.
Michigan is among the worst states when it comes to outages. From 2002 to 2022, Michigan experienced more power cuts than all but three US states, registering 620 major events over that time according to Payless Power.
That data makes for fairly grim reading, especially considering Michigan is at less risk than many US states when it comes to natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes.
To counteract these problems going forward, local governments are increasingly turning to Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) providers from the private sector to completely overhaul their energy systems.
Cadillac, a small city about 50 miles east of Lake Michigan, is one such example.
