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Hardy Hydroelectric PlantHardy Hydroelectric Plant · Photo: Larry Pieniazek, Lar (commons) or User:Lar (wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Big Prairie Township handbook

Living in Big Prairie Township, MI: what to set up and who to call

To register to vote, go to the Big Prairie Township Clerk: Big Prairie Township runs its own elections. Spectrum is the only wired internet provider that reaches most of Big Prairie Township.

I’m new in town

What to set up in Big Prairie Township, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.

Home services

Power, water and internet

Who to call to start service at a new address in Big Prairie Township.

Electricity

Power comes from DTE

DTE (DTE Electric Co.), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Big Prairie Township. Its homes paid an average of 20.2¢ per kWh in 2025, about $126 a month (its average across Michigan, for customers on its standard service). Michigan lets you buy power from another supplier; 0% of DTE’s home customers do, and DTE still delivers it.

Start or move service: www.dteenergy.com · (800) 477-4747

Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.

Drinking water · reported to EPA

Water comes from Hardy Park

Hardy Park supplies Big Prairie Township: about 3% of residents live in its service area. About 97% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water and serves 140 people in all.

No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 77% of the 15,074 systems serving 101–500 people.

Lead, 90th percentile1.5 ppb
015 ppb action level20

The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2021–Dec 2023, was 1.5 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. That’s higher than 65% of similar systems’ latest results.

The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report

EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0 (EPA’s estimate). Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. MI0040369.

Internet

6 home internet providers serve Big Prairie Township

95% of 1,526 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 29% can get fiber.

ProviderTechnologyAddressesFastest (Mbps)
SpectrumCable, Fiber78%1,000/1,000
TruestreamFiber14%1,000/1,000
Point BroadbandFixed wireless36%100/20
VerizonFixed wireless24%300/20
Mercury FiberFixed wireless15%150/20
T-MobileFixed wireless2%100/20

FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.

Trash & recycling

We don’t have Big Prairie Township’s trash rules yet

Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Big Prairie Township.

Trash, recycling and bulk pickupNot on fileOpenStreetMap lists no public drop-off in Big Prairie Township or within 5 miles (as of Oct 9, 2026); map coverage varies by town.
Schools

Where your child goes to school

Public school districts and the school path by grade.

Big Prairie Township kids go to
PK–53 elementary schoolsDepends on your address
6–83 middle schoolsDepends on your address
9–123 high schoolsDepends on your address

Most of Big Prairie Township (58%) is in White Cloud Public Schools; parts are in Newaygo Public School District (21%) and Morley Stanwood Community Schools (21%).

C+School gradeSee Schools →

U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.

Government & voting

Town hall and registering to vote

Who to call, and how to register.

Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Nov 2025; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.

ZIP codes & area codes

Big Prairie Township spans 2 ZIP codes

ZIP codes where Big Prairie Township residents live, with the share of the town in each.

ZIPPost office nameShare of Big Prairie TownshipZIP’s residents in Big Prairie Township
49337Newaygo, MI56%11%
49349White Cloud, MI43%13%

A few homes fall in 49336.

Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.

Everyday places

Getting around, the ER and the library

One line each; the subject pages have the rest.

ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.

Questions about living in Big Prairie Township

Who supplies Big Prairie Township’s drinking water, and has it had violations?

Hardy Park (EPA ID MI0040369). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 77% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 1.5 ppb (Jan 2021–Dec 2023), against a 15 ppb action level.

Who provides electricity in Big Prairie Township?

DTE (DTE Electric Co.), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 20.2¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).

What internet providers serve Big Prairie Township?

Spectrum, Truestream, Point Broadband, Verizon, Mercury Fiber, T-Mobile (FCC, as of December 2025).

What ZIP codes are in Big Prairie Township?

49337 (56%), 49349 (43%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.

What school district is Big Prairie Township in?

White Cloud Public Schools. Parts of the city are in Newaygo Public School District and Morley Stanwood Community Schools.

How do I register to vote in Big Prairie Township?

In Michigan you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before). Elections here are run by the Big Prairie Township Clerk. Check your registration at mvic.sos.state.mi.us.

Sources & dates

Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.

  • Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
  • Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
  • Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
  • ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
  • Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
  • Registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
  • Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
  • Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.