Ameren winning power restoration battle following Illinois storms

Utility spokeswoman Marcelyn Love said an army of 2,800 linemen and other workers were battling to get broken poles replaced and downed lines strung back up.

She said Ameren had pulled in resources from 12 nearby states and 34 different contractor companies to get the job done. And the task they faced was immense.

“As of 10:30 a.m. July 2, approximately 1,205 poles (sub-transmission and distribution) have been damaged or destroyed,” she said in a news release.

“Despite rising heat and humidity and the widespread damage that has challenged power restoration efforts in Central and Southern Illinois, Ameren Illinois crews have restored approximately 165,000 customer outages since Thursday when severe weather first struck,” she added.

“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.”

Love said customers who have reported an outage or signed up for alerts will receive notification on the status of their individual power loss. For more information, go to AmerenIllinois.com/outage.

The utility noted that at the height of the mass outages across its sprawling service territory, electrical service to almost a quarter million customers had been knocked out.

By noon Sunday, the total of those customers across the territory still waiting for the lights and air conditioning to come back on had dwindled to 56,000.

Those affected were dotted throughout an 80-county area. Ameren said “major outage pockets” remained in the areas of Decatur, Springfield, Danville, Champaign, Belleville, Maryville and Columbia.

The utility warned people to stay clear of downed lines and to report any they find by calling 1-800-755-5000.