ComEd increased its staffing and opened its Emergency Operations Center due to severe weather this week.
ComEd increased its staffing and opened its Emergency Operations Center due to severe weather this week.
ComEd increased its staffing and opened its Emergency Operations Center due to severe weather this week.
ComEd increased its staffing and opened its Emergency Operations Center due to severe weather this week.
ComEd increased its staffing and opened its Emergency Operations Center due to severe weather this week.

ComEd Responds to Storm-Related Outages

July 15, 2015
Customers encouraged to report power outages via text, mobile app or social media

In preparation for additional severe weather that was expected to move through its territory Monday, ComEd increased staffing and launched Emergency Center Operations. Following strong storms that passed through northern Illinois Monday morning, ComEd had restored approximately 95 percent of the 42,000 customers affected by the earlier weather-related outages.

“Weather can be unpredictable and conditions can change at a moment’s notice as storms move quickly through an area,” said Terence R. Donnelly, executive vice-president and chief operating officer for ComEd. “ComEd crews are prepared to quickly respond to storm outages and we ask that customers stay safe and away from any ComEd equipment that can become damaged during a storm.”

ComEd urged customers to contact the utility immediately if they are experiencing a power outage. Customers could text OUT to 26633 (COMED) to report their outage and receive restoration information. ComEd also introduced a mobile app for iPhone and Android® smart phones, available in the app store for each platform, which gives customers the ability to report power outages and manage their accounts. In addition, customers could report outages through the website at ComEd.com or on ComEd’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/ComEd or by calling 1-800 EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661).

For outage updates, customers can access ComEd’s mobile-enabled, interactive outage map now available at ComEd.com/map. The color-coded map allows customers to easily find information on the location and size of outages, get estimated power restoration times and crew locations. Information is updated every 30 minutes. Customers also can follow the company on Twitter @ComEd or on Facebook at Facebook.com/ComEd to stay up-to-date on the latest ComEd storm restoration information.

With passage of the Smart Grid law in 2011, ComEd embarked on a $2.6 billion program to modernize the power system in northern Illinois. Through investments that include smart switches that reroute power around potential problem areas, new storm hardening and vegetation management solutions, and cable replacement, in addition to the other ongoing programs, ComEd has delivered record reliability over the last two years and produced its best reliability ever for the first half of 2015. ComEd remains focused on continuing to build on improvements, such as an enhanced damage assessment process, better coordination of vegetation management crews and improved material staging to ensure readiness during severe weather. ComEd is committed to helping our customers avoid storm outages and remaining to be among the top-performing utilities in the United States.

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