Ameren Illinois field crews and support staff restored service to more than 45,500 customers in the wake of yesterday’s strong winter storm. Several isolated outages remain but are expected to be restored this evening.
"We appreciate the patience of our customers as our crews continue to battle some very tough working conditions,” said Ameren Illinois President & CEO Richard J. Mark. “We will be in the field until all power is restored, but the safety of our customers and personnel continues to be priority number one."
Most of the outages are a result of high winds, which can cause power lines to cross and substation equipment to fail. Under normal circumstances, these fixes are relatively easy, but drifting snow and impassable roadways have made access to some repair sites difficult. In response, Ameren Illinois dispatched two helicopters to provide aerial assessments of compromised circuits and help facilitate repair plans. Ameren Illinois also worked with local transportation officials to utilize ATVs to reach equipment in areas where roads were impassable.
The Ameren Illinois Emergency Operations center remains activated to coordinate storm response.
Customer tips
Residents are reminded to watch for and avoid downed electrical wires. Furthermore, stay away from brush, downed trees and limbs and any debris that may conceal downed power lines. Call Ameren Illinois at 1-800-755-5000 to report downed wires.
Outage information is available at IllinoisOutage.com. Those using mobile devices are invited to visit Ameren.Mobi for outage information. This site is specially designed for mobile devices.
In addition to the safety and outage information available at IllinoisOutage.com, customers and media can receive timely updates on outage restoration by following the Ameren Illinois news feed at twitter.com/AmerenIllinois.
About Ameren Illinois
Ameren Illinois delivers energy to 1.2 million electric and 806,000 natural gas customers in downstate Illinois, and our mission is to power the quality of life. Our service area covers more than 1,200 communities and 43,700 square miles.
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