6/20/09 - 14:00 - Restoration Effort Showing Huge Gains
Customers Without Power Encouraged To Call
At 2 p.m. today, the Ameren Illinois Utilities report that 4,000 customers are without power, primarily in Adams, Bureau, Champaign, Henderson, Knox, Madison, Peoria, St. Clair, Sangamon, Vermilion and Warren counties. At this time, any customer that is still without power is encouraged to call AIU at: 1-888-672-5252 (AmerenCILCO), 1-888-789-2477 (AmerenCIPS) and 1-800-755-7000 (AmerenIP).
The first round of storms struck Central Illinois Thursday morning, leaving 43,500 customers without electrical service. However, outages had been reduced to less than 7,000 Friday afternoon when additional storms hit Central Illinois and then areas further south, pushing the outage numbers back up to 40,000 customers without lights. Overnight and this morning, AIU crews brought service back to about 32,500 customers.
About 1,400 Ameren Illinois Utilities and allied contractor field personnel are working to get the lights back on by tonight for customers who lost service in the wake of Thursday's and Friday's waves of severe weather.
With today's prospect of more favorable weather conditions, AIU anticipates that nearly all customers will have service by tonight. However, AIU crews will continue working on isolated outages that are expected to persist into tomorrow.
"For safety's sake, we urge customers to check on neighbors, relatives and friends who are still without power, especially the elderly and those with medical conditions. This is especially important with high temperatures expected to reach into the 90s," said Bill Prebil, Ameren Illinois Utilities vice president of Regional Operations. Residents also must watch for and stay away from downed wires.
The latest information on the electrical service restoration effort as well as safety advice and weather reports is available at www.IllinoisOutage.com.
Storm Reference: 20090618AIU
