NEWS RELEASE
March 26, 1999

Michigan Commission on Services to the Aging Announces Gatekeeper of the Year Award

Michigan Office of Services to the Aging Director Lynn Alexander today announced that the Commission on Services to the Aging has named Ms. Tamie Justice of Consumers Energy Company's Alma Office as Gatekeeper of the Year.

In an award ceremony held in Lansing, officials of the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging and Consumers Energy Company, recognized Ms. Justice for her off-duty actions in March of 1998 in aiding an elderly woman who fell in a parking lot.

AThe kind and caring attitude displayed by Ms. Justice during her off-duty hours tells us a lot about Consumers Energy employees,@ said Office of Services to the Aging Director Lynn Alexander. Ms. Justice came to the woman's aid; assisted in getting her to a nearby pharmacy, and remained by her side until she was stable enough to be left on her own. By referring the elderly woman to the Gatekeeper Program at Consumers Energy, she now receives a number of services that have improved her quality of life; allowing her to remain in her own home.

AThis action underscores what the Gatekeeper Program is all aboutCpeople helping people,@ said Alexander.

Ms. Justice was presented with a letter of congratulation from Governor John Engler, an engraved plaque from the Michigan Commission and Office of Services to the Aging, and shares of Consumers Energy Company stock. Ms. Justice is the 10th person in the history of the program to be named Gatekeeper of the Year.

Gatekeeper is a nationwide program that has operated in Michigan since April of 1987. Participating companies train their employees to be on the lookout for signs of distress in older adult customers they interact with in the course of their workday. Since the program's inception in Michigan, thousands of referrals have been made by Consumers Energy employees and other participating companies.