Buffalo Grove Demands Answers From ComEd

Still frustrated after to thousands of ComEd customers in Buffalo Grove this summer, residents and elected officials united Monday in demands for explanations and better customer service.

ComEd representatives acknowledged customers’ frustrations during a presentation to the Village Board, which detailed the storms’ impact and placed part of the blame on Illinois’ outdated technology. But their response failed to appease many.

Art Barsema, ComEd’s director of external affairs, said more advanced technology is needed for better performance. A modern grid, which would replace the existing analog electric meters, would help avoid power outages and make service restoration faster and less expensive, he said. More advanced technology would have prevented between 150,000 and 250,000 of the 1.3 million outages in ComEd’s north region from July 21 to July 11, he said.

In response, some balked at the $2.6 billion price tag required for such an upgrade and noted that the improved technology would not have prevented outages for a majority of customers.

“The smart grid sounds great, but I assume it’s going to take years, decades, to achieve,” Village President Jeff Braiman said. “We don’t have any information about the interim solution, which is problematic to me.”

A lack of information was a common theme throughout the meeting, when residents and elected officials voiced frustration over the limited and often inaccurate communication from ComEd during this summer’s outages.

“Communication was nonexistent,” Braiman said, noting that ComEd’s automated messages provided general information about outages but no information about when service would be restored.

“Our community really wants and needs answers to specific questions,” Trustee Jeff Berman said. Those questions include why so many customers have been affected, why the outages last so long and what ComEd is doing to improve its service, he said.

During the recent outages, “we were scrambling for meaningful information that was not forthcoming,” said Berman, who read an impassioned statement to ComEd officials in which he expressed that neither individual ComEd customers nor village officials received acceptable communication from the electric company. (See his full remarks in the attached PDF.)

ComEd’s presentation, which included statistics from the recent storms and conveyed the company’s need for better technology did little to satisfy Berman, among others. (See ComEd’s presentation in the attached PDF.)

“ComEd relies on remote, obtuse statements,” said Berman, who thought the information presented Monday night “was more an effort at public relations.”

“ComEd does a good job of stating the obvious,” he said. “Our community deserves better.”

Residents weigh in

Residents echoed those thoughts after lining up in the village chamber Monday to express their frustrations and ask for better service.

Jerry Cooper, who lives at the village’s north end, said he was forced to book a hotel for five days after he lost power last month, because a health condition forces him to avoid humidity. That bill, combined with other expenses resulting from the outage, means “I’m out thousands of dollars,” he said.

“The hotels in the area were jam-packed,” added resident Mark Elias, who had to seek refuge in Schaumburg when his home lost power.

Elias expressed dissatisfaction at the information provided by the two ComEd representatives in attendance Monday. He asked village officials to request the presence of someone in a decision-making role at ComEd, rather than members of its communications staff.

“Having a mouthpiece is like talking to the rear end of a horse,” Elias said.

Others expressed concern about the impact power losses have on elderly residents and complained that ComEd makes it difficult to collect reimbursement for spoiled food, particularly because the company assumes no liability for weather-generated outages.

State Reps. Sid Mathias, R-53rd District, and Carol Sente, D-59th District, also voiced frustrations about service interruptions. (See video above.)

What's next

Barsema said ComEd officials are working to identify ways in which the company can improve service while it remains on the analog grid. The company also is working to improve communication with customers by disseminating information through its own website, social media channels and village officials, he said.

Village officials said they will follow up with ComEd representatives with concerns about communication as well specific questions that were raised, including whether there might be a connection between the recent rash of power outages and the installation of a new substation on Aptakisic Road.

“We get a lot of PR. We need to know what you’re doing to make it better,” Braiman said. “I hope in the future, you’ll not only tell us you are serious about these issues, but that you’ll show us as well.”