ComEd has restored approximately 257,000 customers after storms with
hurricane force winds swept through the ComEd territory on Monday night,
knocking out power to more than 400,000 customers. Lightning and winds
in excess of 75 mph caused widespread damage, bringing down power lines
and trees and causing severe damage. Currently, approximately 147,000
customers remain without service. ComEd has mobilized roughly 760 ComEd
and contract crews to restore power as quickly and safely as possible to
those affected. In addition, the utility secured additional resources
from nine other states – including Kansas, Tennessee and Massachusetts.
ComEd’s South region was hardest hit, with approximately 134,000
customers currently out of power. Chicago has 7,000 customers without
power. The West region has 5,700 customers without power while outages
in the North region are affecting approximately 600 customers.
Based on past storms of a similar magnitude, the company currently
estimates that the remaining customers will have their service restored
by late Thursday night, with the exception of some pockets in hardest
hit areas.
ComEd’s restoration process begins immediately with damage assessment.
This process enables the company to determine hardest hit areas and
establish restoration times. The company then prioritizes outage
restoration to ensure public safety first such as police and fire,
followed by hospitals and other critical customers such as pumping
stations. ComEd then restores feeders, which allows the company to
return power to the largest numbers of customers at one time, followed
by smaller service restorations and individual outages.
Public safety is paramount during storms and ComEd encourages the public
to remember to take the following precautions:
-
If you encounter a downed power line, immediately call ComEd at
1-800-EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661) or access our website at ComEd.com and
report the location. Spanish-speaking customers should call
1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237). Customers also can visit Twitter for
restoration updates.
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Never approach a downed power line. Always assume a power line is
energized and extremely dangerous.
-
Check on elderly and other sensitive family members and neighbors to
ensure their safety and make alternate arrangements, as it may be some
time before their power is restored.
To report an outage, customers can call 1-800 EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661),
or report it through the web site – ComEd.com. Customers also can follow
@ComEd on Twitter or Facebook to stay up to date on the latest ComEd
info.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy
provider, with approximately 6.6 million customers. ComEd provides
service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois,
or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information
visit ComEd.com,
and connect with the company on Facebook,
Twitter
and YouTube.
Copyright Business Wire 2014