Storm Update from COMED – July 16, 2024:
The devastating storms which ravaged northern Illinois last night delivered a heavy blow to the ComEd grid. As many as 10 simultaneous tornadoes, lightning and wind gusts of 70 mph interrupted service to approximately 430,000 customers. Already, ComEd crews have restored power to more than 183,000, or 43 percent of those affected, so that as of 6:30am more than 240,000 ComEd customers were without power.
A storm event like this requires an all-hands-on deck response. That’s why our team continues to work closely with local leaders and municipal partners to assess damage, coordinate resources and identify priority issues. To ensure a safe and swifter restoration, ComEd is increasing resources and staffing. More than 3,000 field personnel will be deployed today – including 1,400 personnel coming in from utility partners outside the region, including Canada. Crews will prioritize restoring critical facilities such as police and fire stations, nursing homes, hospitals and critical infrastructure like water pumping plants. This work will be followed by repairs that restore power to the greatest number of customers.
We expect to have service restored to 80 percent of remaining customers by 3pm, Wednesday, July 17 and 99 percent of customers restored by Friday, July 18.
As crews set about their tasks in often very difficult conditions, made more challenging by today’s expected severe heat, safety for our customers and crews remains ComEd’s paramount concern. We urge customers to stay vigilant, and report outages and downed wires by calling 1-800-EDISON1, or through our website, ComEd.com. We remind customers that if you see a downed wire, stand back and assume it is energized.
If you have any questions about outages in your area, don’t hesitate to let me know. I will issue more updates as the restoration progresses.