ComEd Anticipates Severe Storms

ComEd opened its Emergency Operations Center at 5 p.m. today (Sunday) in preparation for the severe storm system that is expected to move through its service territory late this evening. Heavy rain, lightning and high winds with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour are expected. The company’s storm preparation also includes additional staffing of field and customer call center personnel.

ComEd’s preparation also includes a number of significant enhancements the utility has made since last summer to improve its communications, coordination and response. Some of those efforts include:

• Enhancements to e-outage, an online tool available to municipalities that provides storm status information to municipal leaders. Municipalities also will receive detailed emails with localized storm information and crew information. ComEd also has trained additional personnel who will be available as “boots on the street” to work with municipalities in the event of a severe storm.
• A plan to strengthen customer service center call volume capacity to reduce the number of customers that experience difficulty getting through during an extended outage situation when call volume is at its highest. The enhancement will be in place by the end of the second quarter.
• Two-way text messaging capability that allows customers to text their outage to ComEd and enables the utility to text restoration information back to customers. To report an outage, customers can text OUT to 26633 (ComEd).
• A 20 percent increase of in the number of first-responders and first line supervisors available for storm field support to more effectively manage and coordinate resources, enhance damage assessment and repair capabilities, speed up overall restoration times for customers and enhance response during major service restoration efforts.
• A new, $1 million, state-of-the-art regional mobile command center (MOC), fully equipped with the latest communications, satellite and video conferencing technology that can be deployed to areas with the most significant damage after a storm.
• Expanded GPS deployment across its entire mobile dispatch fleet to strengthen coordination of resources, allowing more effective storm restoration for customers.

Public safety is paramount during storms and ComEd encourages the public to remember to take the following precautions:

• If you encounter a downed power line, immediately call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON1 (1-800- 334-7661) or access our website at ComEd.com and report the location. Spanish-speaking customers should call 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237). Customers also can visit Twitter for restoration updates.
• Never approach a downed power line. Always assume a power line is energized and extremely dangerous.
• Check on elderly and other sensitive family members and neighbors to ensure their safety and make alternate arrangements, as it may be some time before their power is restored.