KALKASKA — Consumers Energy will temporarily cut power to more than 2,000 homes and businesses in the Kalkaska area early Saturday to complete critical substation upgrades.

The planned outage will affect 2,096 customers from 2 to as late as 5 a.m., according to the company. The work area is generally south of Woodbridge and Black Walnut roads, north of M-72, east of Smith Lake Road and west of Shirley Road.

“We want our customers to know we appreciate their patience,” Chris Laird, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric distribution operations, said in a statement. “We never want to interrupt service to our customers, but need to do so to ensure the safety of our equipment and, more importantly, the people we serve.”

Laird said completing the work now will help avoid the risk of a

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