Ameren stresses storm readiness

May 05 - Herald & Review (Decatur, IL)

As the season for storms opens, Ameren Illinois wants to make sure its customers feel safe from lengthy power outages.

The company's safety event recently addressed storm preparedness.

After the ice storm in 2006, the company implemented an Emergency Operations Center under the Incident Command Structure to help with this worry.

"We continue to improve our outage restoration, particularly during major storms," said Daetta Jones, Ameren Illinois director of Division Three.

The center, which is in Decatur, is in operation during any severe storm in Illinois. As soon as the storm approaches, the company will send field personnel, such as engineers, to view the damage.

"And the calls from our customers are a very good indicator of what we have out in the field," Jones said.

Ameren's first priority is to respond to any life-threatening emergencies, such as a downed power line. They then address critical customers such as hospitals. Restoration continues for customers in the quickest manner possible, the main lines then smaller areas.

For each major storm in Illinois, the power company has five 53-foot storm trailers available.

"The trailer meets the immediate need for the crews to start working," said Larry Bevington, Ameren Illinois superintendent of energy delivery.

Approximately 400 linemen can work from of a storm trailer.

"The trailers are stocked all the time, ready to go," Jones said. "They are an instrumental part of the storm restoration."

The entire company is on alert when necessary.

"We constantly track the weather," Jones said.

In an emergency situation, downed power lines should be reported to the fire department. Always assume a power line on the ground is live and not safe to touch.

The company also addressed the need for generator safety.

"Many customers will buy a temporary generator; then they will plug it in to an outside outlet," said Stacey Young, community relations coordinator for Ameren Illinois.

They create a male end plug, which is an illegal cord, making both ends three pronged, Youth explained. They then plug into an electrical source that is connected to a panel.

Young said this mistake causes the energy to return to the panel, which is not equipped to handle it. It back feeds into the electrical system. Line personnel, first responders and anyone near an electrical line can be in danger.

Instead of plugging into the home, customers can use an extension cord, or a drop cord, to supply energy to a power strip.

The cord attached to the generator is very small and is not able to run all of the household equipment.

"The moment you plug the generator into the outside outlet, you have voided your home owner's insurance and you have put your house in danger of electrical fire," Young said.

Ameren suggests customers buy a transfer switch. Customers install it to circuit breaker panel -- purchased from many home improvement stores for approximately $500. After the switch is installed inside the home, it can switch from the generator to the meter with no danger of back feed.

To report an outage or to view area outages from a laptop, tablet or smartphone, visit Illinoisoutage.com.

dbeckett@herald-review.com|(217) 421-6983

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