(The following is a press release from Ameren Illinois)
NEARLY 3,000 WORKERS ENGAGED IN RESTORATION EFFORTS ACROSS THE AMEREN ILLINOIS SERVICE TERRITORY
Crews have restored power to about 50% of impacted customers
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (July 1, 2023) – Ameren Illinois crews continue to work around the clock to restore power to thousands of customers impacted by multiple severe weather events that have affected the region since Thursday. As of 11 a.m. Saturday, crews had successfully restored more than 90,000 outages, or about 50 percent of the initially impacted customers.
Situation
- On Thursday and Friday, central and southern Illinois experienced relentless, significant weather events that continue to impact electric services. The National Weather Service is predicting additional storms for Saturday, which could impede restoration.
- Ameren representatives are coordinating with local and state officials and agencies, working together to get service safely restored. Customers who have reported an outage or signed up for alerts will receive notification on the status of their individual outage.
- Currently, 2,800 workers are engaged in restoration, including resources from 7 nearby states. An additional 1,500 outside contract workers are headed to the Ameren Illinois service area to assist. Crews will safely work until every customer is restored.
- As of 8 a.m. July 1, approximately 930 poles (sub-transmission and distribution) have been damaged or destroyed.
Due to the scope of damage and the significant number of outages throughout the Ameren Illinois service territory, many customers should expect to be without power through the weekend. Some customers could have their power restored sooner and other outages could last longer.
With excessive heat in the forecast, Ameren Illinois is encouraging customers to check on friends and neighbors and individuals with special needs. Information on cooling centers can be found by contacting your local county officials.
Customer safety tips
- Call Ameren Illinois at 1-800-755-5000 as soon as possible to report a downed line, natural gas odor, or an outage.
- Residents are reminded to stay away from downed power lines because these lines may still be energized. Stay away from brush, shrubs and fallen trees that may be hiding these lines.
Real-time outage details and safety information are available at Ameren.com/outage. Customers and media can also receive updates on outage restoration by following the Ameren Illinois news feed at twitter.com/AmerenIllinois and Facebook.com/AmerenIllinois.
