Ameren Illinois expects nearly all 9,400 customers impacted by Friday evening’s severe storms to have power restored by 10:00 p.m. tonight. Crews will work into the night to complete restoration. A limited number of customers in the Alton/Maryville/Mt. Clare areas and a small section of Decatur may not be restored until tomorrow. At the peak of the outage, more than 32,000 customers were without power. The storm began working its way through the Ameren Illinois territory at about 7:00 p.m. Friday, causing more than 40,500 customer outages overnight and Saturday morning.
“We activated our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to focus our attention on restoring power in an efficient and safe manner,” said Ron Pate, vice president, Operations and Technical Services, Ameren Illinois. “As we near the end of our restoration efforts, please notify us at 800-755-5000 if you are still without power – especially if you notice your neighbors have power.”
Currently, Ameren Illinois has approximately 700 co-workers and contractors deployed, most of them line crews. Ameren Illinois storm trailers are active in Maryville, Champaign and Gilman. Ameren Illinois is also sending crews to assist Ameren Missouri in their restoration efforts.
Hardest hit were the areas of Maryville/Belleville/Alton, Decatur, and Gilman. But scattered outages were caused by downed poles and other storm-related damage throughout the territory.
Customer safety tips
· Stay away from downed power lines and always call our customer service number, 800-755-5000 if you see downed lines
· Never go outside during a power outage after sunset because you won't be able to see a downed power line that could still be energized and dangerous. Stay away from brush, shrubs and downed trees that may hide downed lines.
· Detailed safety and outage information is available at IllinoisOutage.com. Customers with mobile devices can visit www.ameren.mobi.
· If your electric service is interrupted, be sure to unplug or protect sensitive computer and electronic equipment with a high-quality surge protector.
Reporting an Outage
If your power goes out, call Ameren Illinois at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week – and always call as soon as possible to report a downed line or natural gas odor. The Ameren Illinois contact number is 800-755-5000. In addition to the safety and outage information available at IllinoisOutage.com, customers and media can receive timely updates on outage restoration and view storm photos by following the Ameren Illinois news feed at twitter.com/AmerenIllinois.
Ameren Illinois delivers energy to 1.2 million electric and 806,000 natural gas customers in Illinois, and our mission is to meet their energy needs in a safe, reliable, efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Our service area covers more than 1,200 communities and 43,700 square miles. For more information, visit AmerenIllinois.com or find us on Twitter @AmerenIllinois.
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