Response is ongoing to restore all customers following the 10 tornadoes and 100 mph winds on Monday evening
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ComEd crews have restored power to 353,281 customers, more than 80 percent of the over 440,000 customers impacted by Monday evening’s storms. The storms caused widespread damage across the service territory on Monday evening, with 10 tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service and severe winds peaking over 100 mph.
Approximately 82,000 customers remain without power as of 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 17, with most of the outages concentrated in the South region. ComEd expects that the vast majority of remaining customers will be restored by the afternoon of Friday, July 19. Localized areas experiencing major damage requiring significant repairs may take longer to restore.
More than 3,000 ComEd crews as well as mutual assistance personnel from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Canada are working 24/7 to quickly and safely restore power. ComEd prioritizes repairs that will restore outages affecting the greatest number of customers and focuses on critical services, such as hospitals, senior centers, law enforcement and fire departments. Given the extent of damage stemming from the storms — including lane closures on major interstates and other major infrastructure impacts — ComEd remains in close coordination with community leaders and local agencies to make repairs.
Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of severe weather facing the area and many areas across the country. To strengthen its infrastructure, ComEd has been investing in power grid upgrades in recent years, with these improvements helping to bolster systemwide reliability by 70 percent, and helping customers avoid more than 21.7 million outages, and saving more than $3.3 billion in outage-related costs.
The following tips and information encourage customers to stay safe following severe weather:
- If you encounter a downed power line, immediately call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661).
- Spanish-speaking customers should call 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237).
- Never approach a downed power line. Always assume a power line is energized and extremely dangerous.
Customers can sign up for Outage Alerts at ComEd.com/Alerts or text OUT to 26633 to report their outage and receive restoration information about when their power may be restored.
ComEd also offers a mobile app for iPhone® and Android® smartphones that gives customers the ability to report power outages and manage their accounts. In addition, customers can report outages through ComEd’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 250 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 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, Instagram and YouTube.
Contacts
ComEd Media Relations
312-394-3500
