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Storm videos

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Click here for more storm coverage

Outage Report for February 28, 2011 Severe Storm (winds and lightning)

The maximum number of customers out of service at a single point in time during this storm event was 34,541.  The total number of customers restored to service during this event was 54,818.

Ameren Illinois began to experience scattered outages at about 12:30 a.m. on Monday, February 28, 2011.  The vast majority of customers were restored to service by approximately 12:30 a.m. on March 1.

Ameren Illinois Company activated its Emergency Operations Center at 4:00 a.m. on Monday, February 28, 2011 and at 6:15 a.m. on March 1, 2011 the Company returned to normal operations. 

Locations of service outages varied during the storm restoration efforts by areas included: Belleville, Edwardsville, Granite City, Highland, Marine, Okawville and Pocahontas.      

The cause of the outages was weather-related.  The Company’s territory experienced intense lightning, supposedly straight line winds of 65-70 mph, large hail in areas, and reported tornadoes.

Additional information on the wind storm available.  Read more.

 Emergency Event: 20110228AIC

01/30/2011 to 02/03/2011 Illinois Winter Storm - Service Territory Wide 

Ameren Illinois Company activated its Emergency Operations Center at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 30, 2011 prior to the anticipated winter storm. Operations were returned to nomal status on Feb 3rd.

Ameren Illinois began to experience scattered outages in the early afternoon on Tuesday, February 1, 2011.  Outages counts fluctuated throughout the afternoon, decreasing below 10,000 between 12:50 p.m. and 1:50 p.m.  Outage counts have exceeded 10,000 since 1:50 p.m. on February 1, 2011. The peak of 41,000 customers out of service occurred at approximately 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 1, 2011.

Outages began at approximately noon February 1, 2011.  As of about 1:50 p.m. that day, the number of Ameren Illinois customers out-of-service rose above 10,000.

 Areas experiencing service outagers were primarily near Pekin, Peoria, Galesburg, Kewanee, Decatur rural, Lincoln rural, Westfield, Paris, Mattoon, Robinson, Morrisonville, Raymond, Sparta, and Centralia. 

The cause of the outages is weather-related, with ice, wind, and blowing snow.  These conditions have contributed to galloping in some locations.  Galloping causes power lines to bounce violently, which in turn causes lines to strike each other, resulting in outages. The galloping lines also can break crossarms and poles, sending wires to the ground, causing outages.

 Workers were encouraged to protect skin from exposure and for refreezing conditions. 

Restoration efforts were underway to restore service to customers as quickly as possible.    Since reaching the peak of 41,000 customers out at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Ameren Illinois has restored some 33,000 customers.  Approximately 4,500 customers were restored midnight on Feb 2st.  Work resumed on Thursday morning with the remaining 3,500 customers restored on February 3, 2011.

Community Relations folks who had reached out to some of the larger communities first, made contacts with the next smaller tier of communities throughout the day, Feb 2nd.  They followied  up with all these mayors and community leaders as restoration is completed to ensure they are satisfied and have no outstanding concerns.   Information on Warming Centers was included on www.illinoisoutage.com which also had ongoing safety information and updates regarding the progress of restoration.

The call centers responded to over 5,600 emergency calls, with a very low average speed of answer.  Call volumes continued to decrease in parallel with the number of customers out. 

Restoration Videos

Additional information on the 01/30/2011 winter storm available here. More information here.

PHOTOS - Near Metamora and Bellflower winds damage electric poles and attachments.

Summary: 

• Ameren Illinois activated the Emergency Operations Center the morning of October 26th in the wake of storms packing high winds that left about 19,000 customers without service at the height of the outages. A total of 36 utility poles were downed.
• Despite continued high winds and hazardous working conditions, outages were reduced to about 12,000 by 10:00 a.m. on October 26th.
• It is anticipated that service will be restored to nearly all customers by late afternoon or early evening of the 26th.
• The forecast calls for continued high winds and the possibility of severe storms, which could delay service restoration or cause new outages.
• Customers are urged to stay away from downed wires and to report any downed wires.

Additional information on these wind storms is available.  Read more.

Photos

Several waves of storms are included in the EOC activity for the weekend of July 23-26th. The EOC was activated at 21:00 on July 23.

On Friday night wind damage five, 75 foot sub-transmission poles in the Kewanee area affecting over 3000 customers. 

Early Saturday evening storms blew through western Illinois in two waves. First, creating outages in areas near Rushville, Havana, and Petersburg, and the second in the area near Quincy. 

Late Saturday night storms moved through the St. Louis area. At the peak of these storms over 15,000 customers were without service. 1400 remained without service by morning and most were restored by noon on Sunday.

Work was completed safely. The EOC returned Ameren Illinois to normal operations on Monday morning at 07:00.

Addional information on the July 23-26 weekend storms event is available.  Read more. 

Emergency Event 20100723AIU

Photos of storm damage in Taylorville.

Early afternoon July 19th, a line of severe thunderstorms moved through a portion of Division IV, impacting customers in and around the North Pana, Taylorville, and Assumption areas of the division.

Damage identified in this area at this time:

21-25 poles down

73 spans of wire

Storm is currently impacting the Lawrenceville, Olney, Albion, Robinson, and Bridgeport areas of Division IV.

Estimated restorations time for storm related damage is 1200 on 7/20/10, pending further storm damage.

Read about the storm damage and restoration ..more..

PHOTOS

On June 23, 2010 A squall line of severe thunderstorms moved across the northern portion of the service territroy, resulting in significant damage in the Kewanee and La Salle areas of Division I. The division has suffered damage in the form of broken poles and downed electrical conductor - an Initial Damage Assessment is underway At the peak of the storm, 14000 customers were without power.

Click here for more coverage

Emergency Event 20100623AIU

PHOTOS

As of 6:30 the morning of June 22nd, restoration efforts in Cass and Schuyler counties nears completion. Almost all customers have had service restored.

Beardstown was hit be severe storm at about 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 22, 2010, resulting in an electric service outage that affected the entire community. About 3,300 Ameren Illinois customers in and near Beardstown were left without power.

At 4:40 p.m. today, a total of about 990 customers were still without lights. Ameren Illinois anticipated that most customers would have their service restored by 12:00 a.m. midnight.

Ameren Illinois has assigned a total of 74 linemen to the service restoration effort in Beardstown. There also are another 39 personnel assigned to the restoration effort.

The storm caused extensive damage to the Ameren Illinois electrical distribution system, resulting in damage to utility poles and downed wires.

Some residents may need to repair customer-owned facilities, such as the meter base, weatherhead or point of attachment. This work should be performed by a professional electrical contractor. These repairs must be completed before service can be safely restored.

For further coverage of storm of the Beardstown restoration read more...

Emergency Event 20100622AIU

Restoration Videos

Photos 

Ameren Illinois employees have worked non-stop since storms hit Central Illinois Saturday night, June 5, 2010. As of 8:30 p.m., Sunday, service to several thousand homes and businesses had been restored. There were several poles taken down from the high winds in several counties, but the most signifcant damage and safety concern was due to a tornado in Elmwood. We appreciate our customers' patience as power and natural gas service was restored. Please continue to watch the weather for more severe storms and take time to prepare your family.

For additional information on restoration coverage,  read more.....