Ameren Illinois issues status update for statewide power restoration efforts - wcia.com

Ameren Illinois issues status update for statewide power restoration efforts | WCIA.com

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Ameren Illinois has issued a status update for power restoration efforts in many areas across the state, including Champaign.

Ameren Illinois reported crews have restored around 165,000 customer outages since Thursday, June 29, when severe weather first struck the state. They said the company continues to make steady progress on restoration efforts in the wake of multiple severe weather events in the company’s service territory over the last three days.

They said in the last three days, electric service to more than 225,000 customers has been interrupted due to damages caused by the intense storms. As of noon on Sunday, July 2, the company said around 56,000 customers are without power in the service territory of 80 counties in the state, including major outage pockets areas like Decatur, Springfield, Danville, Champaign, Belleville, Maryville, and Columbia.

Ameren Illinois representatives are coordinating with local and state officials and agencies to get service safely restored, officials reported. They said customers who have reported an outage or signed up for alerts will receive a notification on the status of their individual outage.

The company said a total of 2,800 workers are working in restoration efforts, including resources from 12 nearby states and representing 34 different contractor companies. They said crews will safely work until every customer is restored.

As of 10:30 a.m. on July 2, Ameren Illinois said around 1,205 poles (sub-transmission and distribution) have been damaged or destroyed.

With excessive heat in the forecast, Ameren Illinois said they are encouraging customers to check on friends, neighbors, and individuals with special needs. They said information on cooling centers can be found by contacting your local county officials.

They shared customer safety tips including calling Ameren Illinois at 1-800-755-5000 as soon as possible to report a downed line, natural gas odor, or an outage. They remind everyone to stay away from downed power lines as these lines may still be energized, and stay away from brush, shrubs, and fallen trees that may be hiding these lines.

Ameren Illinois also shared some food safety tips, including:

- Throw out suspicious food.
- Keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
- Be sure to keep meat, seafood, and dairy products as cold as possible.
- Discard any perishable food that has been above 40°F for over two hours.
- If it looks like the power outage will continue beyond a day, prepare a cooler with ice for your freezer items.
- Items like jams and jellies, butter, condiments, and fruits and vegetables can be kept on a countertop.

More guidelines on specific foods can be found online.