With gusty winds and severe thunderstorms expected to impact the Chicago area on Tuesday night, ComEd says it is positioning additional crews and equipment to respond to outages.
According to a press release, the company is taking “proactive steps” to address any challenges the weather brings, with wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour and large hail potentially taxing the grid on Tuesday.
“We are taking proactive steps to be ready to work quickly and safely to restore power to any customers impacted by the weather,” ComEd COO David Perez said in a statement. “We recognize that any outage is inconvenient for our customers, which is why we must continue to make investments to harden the power grid and improve resilience to storms, especially as they become more frequent and severe due to climate change.”
According to the release from the company, crews will prioritize restoring power to police and fire stations, as well as nursing homes and hospitals, in the event of any outages.
The secondary priority will be restoring power to higher-population areas, per company officials.
If customers spot downed power lines, they are urged to call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON1, and not to approach any equipment, as it could still be electrified.
Customers can also text the word “OUT” to 26633 to report outages, and to receive restoration updates.
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Customers are also urged never to approach downed power lines, and not to approach crews in the field, as they could be working with live equipment.
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