Currently, approximately 101,000 customers are without power in Ameren's service territory. Customer outages in Ameren Illinois utilities' territory grew over night from 1,000 to almost 4,000 with the hardest hit areas being Canton, Glasford, north and west of Peoria and Galesburg.
In addition, outages rose to 13,000 customers in Central Missouri, with the hardest hit areas being Jefferson City and Lake of the Ozarks.
The company is currently drawing restoration support from nine states, with more than 3,000 linemen and 1,500 tree-removal/vegetation management personnel in the field working to restore power. Additional resources continue to arrive today or are expected to arrive within the next 24 hours.
Following is a breakdown of outages and estimated restoration times for Ameren's Missouri and Illinois customers. However, the company notes that these estimates are subject to change should weather conditions deteriorate. Again, assuming current conditions hold, some customers will be restored before these dates, but all customers should be restored by the late evening of each date:
Power Restored End of Day Monday, Jan. 15
• South St. Louis County
• Jefferson County
• Jerseyville, Ill.
Power Restored End of Day Tuesday, Jan. 16
• St. Charles County/Wentzville
• Franklin County
• Areas north and west of Peoria, Canton, Glasford and Galesburg, Ill.
Power Restored End of Day Wednesday, Jan. 17
• Central Missouri
• West St. Louis County
• North St. Louis County
Ameren continues to remind its customers of the following safety tips:
• Customers should stay away from downed lines and report them to their Ameren utility company.
• For customers who are without power in the cold and unable to get to a warm location, Ameren recommends staying in one room, wearing layers of clothing and wrapping up in blankets.
• Customers using an alternate heat source must be sure to follow all instructions, use fire safeguards and ensure proper ventilation.
• Customers using generators must follow all safety precautions listed in the owner's manual and only use them in well-ventilated areas.
Other tips for customer safety and for coping with winter power outages can be found on www.ameren.com.
Ameren, through its subsidiaries, serves 2.4 million electric customers and one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.