Power Outages - Why the Lights Go Out

Ameren Illinois: www.illinoisout...
During major storms, you may see Ameren crews in your neighborhood that do not stop to restore your power. This happens when we are working to repair the substation supply lines or large feeder trunk lines that ultimately serve you. Feeder lines typically run for several miles and crews must repair them before they can restore your service―so you may not see an Ameren crew in your neighborhood, but crews are still working to restore your power. Our crews work until your service is restored.
In less severe storms or other smaller outages, we may be able to provide you with an estimated restoration time. However, in major storms, it may not be possible to provide meaningful restoration information due to the extent of the damage and the volume of information and phone calls coming into our system.
When this happens, we can assure you that: Our highly trained work force is dedicated to stepping in when major storms hit. People from all departments participate in the effort to ensure power is restored as quickly and safely as possible. Our line crews from throughout our service territory will be reassigned to damaged areas to help us respond more quickly during major storms. Our agreements with out-of-town utility crews will bring in extra assistance if the situation requires it.
In addition, our entire staff of customer service representatives is on-call during major outages of extended duration. Our interactive and highly automated voice response system allows us to handle thousands of calls simultaneously. And, personnel from our Corporate Communications department provides the media with outage information to help you be more informed.
Learn more at www.illinoisoutage.com