Ameren Illinois field and contract crews have restored 123,600 customer outages resulting from a severe winter storm that impacted most of the service territory today. As of 5:00 p.m., the total outage count was down to approximately 14,000 customers.
More than 500 Ameren Illinois employees and contractors battled wind gusts between 45 and 55 mph, mixed with heavy snow, which caused widespread damages to the electric infrastructure. The areas hardest hit by this line of storms were in the Metro East St. Louis and the eastern and southern portions of the service territory. Additional restoration crews from Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Kansas are aiding Ameren Illinois crews to repair in excess of 180 leaning or broken poles and 560 downed wires.
The largest concentration of remaining outages is in the Champaign-Danville areas, which were impacted later in the afternoon as the storm moved east. A cluster of outages remains in several smaller communities in central and southern Illinois. Detailed outage information is available at AmerenIllinois.com/outages.
Due to the high number of sporadic outages, customers without power are encouraged to report their outage by calling 800-755-5000 or by signing up for alerts. Customers who report their outages will receive status of their restoration as that information becomes available.
During a storm, customers are reminded to stay away from downed power lines and immediately report any downed lines to Ameren Illinois at 800-755-5000.
Ameren Illinois offers the following tips:
About Ameren Illinois
Ameren Illinois delivers energy to 1.2 million electric and 816,000 natural gas customers throughout central and southern Illinois Our service territory covers more than 1,200 communities and 43,700 square miles. Our mission is to power the quality of life. For more information, visit AmerenIllinois.com. Follow us on Twitter @AmerenIllinois and Facebook.
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