Ameren Illinois Utilities Work to Restore Power in Southern Illinois
February 13 2008 - 5:42PM
PR Newswire (US)
More than 800 Workers Dedicated to Restoration Efforts CARBONDALE,
MARION, Ill., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Ameren Illinois
Utilities have restored power to nearly 14,000 of the 18,400
AmerenCIPS customers who lost power as a result of the ice storm
that struck Southern Illinois earlier this week. At 4 p.m.,
approximately 4,500 AmerenCIPS customers are still without power.
More than 800 people have been working restoring power those
customers. That includes nearly 480 Ameren Illinois Utility workers
and outside contractor personnel from across the state, as well as
more than 320 tree trimmers, management and field checking workers
assigned to the restoration effort. The Ameren Illinois Utilities
expect to restore power to the majority of customers by the end of
the day Thursday. Some single outages may extend into Friday. "We
appreciate our customers' patience as we work to get their power
back on," said John Barud, manager of Ameren Illinois Division VI.
"The safety of our co-workers, contractors and the public remains
our top priority. People can help by making sure they report any
downed power lines and by warning others to stay away from these
lines until repair crews can get there. Residents should stay away
from brush and downed trees which may hide downed wires." Customers
can call AmerenCIPS at 1-888-789-2477 to report downed wires. Barud
also warns customers installing generators about safety issues
related to their installation. Anyone using a portable generator
should follow strict safety requirements to prevent injury or death
both to themselves and to the utility field crews attempting to
restore power. Customers planning to install a temporary generator
must first open the main breaker or remove the main fuses before
connecting the generator to the electrical systems. Failure to do
this could seriously injure utility crews working on outside power
lines, and/or it could cause damage to a neighbor's property or the
customer's own equipment. Customers should never use a portable
generator indoors, including in a home, garage, basement, shed or
partially-enclosed area -- even with ventilation. Opening doors and
windows or using fans will not prevent the carbon monoxide exhaust
from building up in the home. Only use a portable generator
outdoors in a dry area, away from doors, windows and vents.
Customers should also exercise extreme caution when handling fuel
for portable generators, especially when re-fueling hot generators.
Information regarding permanently installed generators, a full
description of the Ameren Illinois Utilities' power restoration
process, along with advice on how customers can cope with outages
is available under "Storm Center" on the Ameren Web site:
http://www.ameren.com/. The Ameren Illinois Utilities serve 1.2
million electric and more than 840,000 natural gas customers in a
43,700-square-mile area of Illinois. DATASOURCE: Ameren Illinois
Utilities CONTACT: Erica Abbett of Ameren Illinois Utilities,
+1-618-236-4329 Web site: http://www.ameren.com/
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