ComEd Restores Power to More Than 60 Percent of Affected Customers Following Severe Derecho

ComEd expects majority of customers to be restored by Friday

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ComEd crews have restored power to more than 60 percent of customers affected by a derecho that moved across the region Monday afternoon and brought hurricane force wind gusts in excess of 90 miles per hour, nearly 4,300 lightning strokes, a tornado in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood and golf ball sized hail.

The company has restored service to 541,000 customers. Approximately 343,000 customers remain without power. ComEd’s smart grid investments since 2012 – such as technologies that automatically detect outages and reroute power around problem areas – helped ComEd restore service to 440,000 customers in the first 16 hours after the storm and avoid many more outages that would have occurred in a storm this severe.

The storm caused significant damage across the service territory, including downed poles, broken lines and damage from uprooted trees and broken branches. ComEd expects to restore power to the majority of customers by Friday night, with some customer outages in pockets with the most significant damage lasting until Saturday. ComEd will update customers’ individual restoration times with more accurate estimates as crews continue to assess damage and make needed repairs.

“ComEd appreciates the patience of our customers following this severe storm,” said Terry Donnelly, president and COO. “The damage from this storm was significant. As we continue to restore power to customers in hard hit communities, the safety of our customers and our crews remains our top priority.”

ComEd has more than 1,900 employees and contractors working around the clock to restore energy to affected customers as quickly and safely as possible. Additionally, more than 1,400 mutual assistance workers are coming in from out of state to assist in restoration efforts.

ComEd offers the following tips and information for customers to stay safe following severe weather:

• If you encounter a downed power line, immediately call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661) or go to ComEd.com to report the location. 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.
• In the event of an outage, do not approach ComEd crews working to restore power to ask about restoration times. Crews may be working on live electrical equipment and the perimeter of the work zone may be hazardous.

Earlier technology issues with the phone system, website, and text reporting tools have been largely resolved, although there may be some intermittent interruptions as the systems become fully operational. ComEd urges customers to contact the company immediately if they experience a power outage. Customers can text OUT to 26633 (COMED) to report an outage and receive restoration information, and can follow the company on Twitter @ComEd or on Facebook at Facebook.com/ComEd. Customers can also call 1-800 EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661), or report outages via the website at www.ComEd.com/report. Spanish-speaking customers should call 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237).

ComEd has introduced a mobile app for iPhone and Android® smart phones that gives customers the ability to report power outages and manage their accounts; download the app at www.ComEd.com/app.

ComEd has an interactive outage map on its website at www.ComEd.com/map, which allows customers to easily find information on the location and size of outages and get estimated power restoration times.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 100 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.