ComEd Restores Power for More than 206,000 Customers Impacted by Extreme Storms

Response is ongoing to restore all customers following several tornadoes and severe winds on Monday evening

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following a series of severe and incredibly destructive storms on Monday evening, which spawned at least 10 confirmed tornadoes and generated winds in excess of 70 MPH, ComEd crews continue to work around the clock to restore power to impacted customers. Approximately 206,000 customers have been restored as of 8am this morning, with more than 430,000 customers originally impacted following Monday evening’s storm system. ComEd is increasing resources and doubling staffing to support a full restoration for customers, which is expected by Friday evening.

To respond to the areas hit hardest by last night’s storms, ComEd has opened four additional joint operations commands to respond to some of the most heavily impacted areas in the region: Freeport, Streator, Joliet and University Park.

“Safely restoring power to all customers impacted by Monday evening’s storms remains our number one priority, and our dedicated crews are working around the clock to bring all affected customers back,” said Dave Perez, executive vice-president and COO, at ComEd. “To respond to the magnitude of the storms faced – with several confirmed tornadoes and high winds – ComEd is increasing resources and deploying additional field personnel to expedite restoration efforts. We recognize the frustration any number of outages can cause, and thank our customers for their continued patience as our team works to restore them as quickly as possible.”

More than 3,000 field crews will be deployed today – including 1,400 personnel coming to assist from outside ComEd. As crews work throughout the day, they will prioritize critical facilities such as hospitals, senior centers, law enforcement and fire departments, and then move to restore outages affecting the greatest number of customers. Given the extent of damage stemming from the storms – including lane closures on major interstates and other major infrastructure impacts – ComEd remains in close coordination with community leaders and local agencies to make repairs.

In response to severe weather forecasts, ComEd first opened its Emergency Operations Center Sunday evening. Monday’s severe weather was the third weather system to hit northern Illinois in three days, with ComEd crews restoring over 95,000 customer outages following Sunday night’s storms.

Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of severe weather facing the area and many areas across the country. To strengthen its infrastructure, ComEd has been investing in power grid upgrades in recent years, with these improvements helping to bolster systemwide reliability by 70 percent, and helping customers avoid more than 21.7 million outages, and saving more than $3.3 billion in outage-related costs.

The following tips and information encourage customers to stay safe following severe weather:

• If you encounter a downed power line, immediately call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661).
• 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.

Customers can sign up for Outage Alerts at ComEd.com/Alerts or text OUT to 26633 to report their outage and receive restoration information about when their power may be restored.

ComEd also offers a mobile app for iPhone® and Android® smart phones that gives customers the ability to report power outages and manage their accounts. In addition, customers can report outages through ComEd’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 250 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.