Power back for most Ameren utility users

[June 22, 2009]  PEORIA -- About 1,400 Ameren Illinois Utilities and allied contractor field personnel finished up work to get the lights back on this weekend for customers who lost service in the wake of Thursday's and Friday's waves of severe weather.

At 7 a.m. Monday, the Ameren Illinois Utilities report that outside of small areas of rural Illinois, power has been restored, including all of Logan County.

The first round of storms struck central Illinois on Thursday morning, leaving 43,500 customers without electrical service. However, outages had been reduced to less than 7,000 Friday afternoon, when additional storms hit central Illinois and then areas farther south, pushing the outage numbers back up to 40,000 customers without lights. Overnight and in the morning, AIU crews brought service back to about 32,500 customers.

With the more favorable weather conditions, AIU crews will continue working on isolated outages that are expected to persist to a small degree into Monday.

The latest information on the electrical service restoration effort, as well as safety advice and weather reports, is available at IllinoisOutage.com.

"For safety's sake, we urge customers to check on neighbors, relatives and friends who are still without power, especially the elderly and those with medical conditions. This is especially important with high temperatures expected to reach into the 90s," said Bill Prebil, vice president of regional operations for Ameren Illinois Utilities.

Residents also must watch for and stay away from downed wires. To report downed wires or other problems, customers should call 1-888-672-5252 for AmerenCILCO, 1-888-789-2477 for AmerenCIPS and 1-800-755-7000 for AmerenIP.

Those who need to repair customer-owned facilities, such as the meter base, weatherhead or point of attachment, should have this work performed by a professional electrical contractor. These repairs must be completed before service can be safely restored. More information is available at IllinoisOutage.com.

Residents also are reminded that safety must be the first priority when using portable generators. Never operate a portable generator indoors. Before using a portable generator, first open the main breaker or remove the main fuses before connecting the generator to your electrical system.

AmerenCIPS, AmerenCILCO and AmerenIP, the Ameren Illinois Utilities, have been providing safe, reliable energy delivery service for more than a century. The Ameren Illinois Utilities deliver energy to 1.2 million electric and 840,000 natural gas customers in more than 1,200 communities within a 43,700-square-mile service territory.

[Source: Ameren Illinois Utilities; LDN staff]