Friday, December 14, 2012
Representatives from the electric company spoke at a jam-packed Western Springs Village Hall on Wednesday about the November surge that caused damage in many homes.
Representatives from electric company Commonwealth Edison went before Western Springs Village Hall on Wednesday night to answer residents’ questions about the November 27 power surge that many Western Springs and La Grange Highlands residents say caused significant damage to their homes and appliances. The hall was overflowing, with many attendees forced to stand for lack of enough chairs. Western Springs Village President Bill Rodeghier, State Representative Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and a representative for Congressman Dan Lipinski (D-3rd, also a Western Springs resident) were among them. ComEd engineering manager Bill Fredrick told the crowd that the surge happened when a 12,000-volt line on Edgewood Drive in La Grange Highlands …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The incident darkened parts of La Grange and Countryside shortly before 6 p.m., in addition to blacking out the traffic light at 55th and Brainard.
A downed wire that may have blown a transformer left nearly 1,100 customers between Edgewood Avenue and Willow Springs Road without power just before 6 p.m. Tuesday on the southwest side of the La Grange Country Club. Though numerous fire trucks from both La Grange and La Grange Park made for a dramatic scene, La Grange police said it was a run of the mill blown transformer where Edgewood meets 53rd Place. ComEd representative Martha Swaney said it was unclear whether a transformer was also involved, but she did confirm that a wire was down in the area. The explosion also knocked out power to the traffic light at 55th and Brainard, as well as the Jewel grocery store and Citgo gas station that flank the intersection. Swaney said power had …
Thursday, October 18, 2012
A car crashed into a pole at the La Grange Park/Brookfield border on Wednesday afternoon, causing area power outages. Check out these photos!
A car crashed into and knocked over a pole at the corner of 31st Street and Maple Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, causing some power outages to the area around the border of Brookfield and La Grange Park, Westchester Suburban Life is reporting. Brookfield Fire Department officials told the paper that there did not appear to be any injuries from the crash. Nearby residents Christine Foushi wrote to Patch that incident was a hit-and-run, that the knocked-down pole crashed on top of a pickup truck and a van (visible in the above photos) and that the vehicle "[dragged an] electrical power box about 100 feet." Her husband Mike Foushi supplied the above photos of the crash. Check them out!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The utility said it had restored 96,000 customers as of 8 p.m. Sunday after a storm that featured high winds, rain and hail earlier in the day.
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Sunday, July 1, 2012
The following comes from a Commonwealth Edison release: More than 360 ComEd crews are working around the clock to restore power after a severe storm tore through the Chicago area, causing power outages for more than 250,000 customers. As of 8 p.m. Sunday, power has been restored to over 96,000 customers. The storm struck suddenly and violently. According to the National Weather Service, the western suburbs experienced wind gusts of 60 to 90 mph, heavy rain and pounding hail. In Addison, more than an inch of rain fell in 25 minutes. There were a total of 3,400 lightning strokes recorded, primarily in the west and south. The hardest-hit areas are in ComEd’s northern region, where the utility is working with municipal officials and local …
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
A power outage in La Grange has left about 38 households without power.
A ComEd spokeswoman said about 38 households are still without power this evening after power went out in the early afternoon on Stone and Maple avenues in La Grange. The outage was caused by a tree branch that came into contact with powerlines today and will need to be repaired. Crews are currently on the scene and expect to have power restored in the area sometime later this evening. ComEd officials were not able to give a more precise estimate at this time as they are still waiting on specialized equiptment. An earlier estimate of the repair from ComEd's outage alerts on their website announced the company expected power to be back on by 5:30 p.m. To track the progress of this outage and others in the future, click here to be directed …
41.81868
-87.87852
N Stone Ave & W Ogden Ave, La Grange, IL
/articles/comed-power-outage-in-la-grange-to-be-fixed-tonight
/locations/7112881
Friday, August 5, 2011
Natural gas generators are sparing homeowners the agony of losing power and their cool during this summer's many storms.
The thunderstorms that left thousands of residents without power this summer have prompted an increase in homeowners to install standby natural gas generators to avoid being left in the dark—and heat—again. Nicor Gas service representatives have noticed since late April, and most recently this July, an uptick in requests for gas meter upgrades to accommodate natural gas generators in DuPage, Lake and western Cook counties, said Nicor Gas spokesperson Richard Caragol. Local generator dealers agree their business has spiked in the last several weeks because of weather-related power outages in the suburbs, but they are quick to note generator sales and installations have been increasing over the past few years. “We used to do one …
Thursday, July 28, 2011
La Grange residents are once again in the dark.
According to a press release from the Village of La Grange, about 150 residents are once again without power this morning. A storm early this morning caused damage to individual service lines and the electrical system. Residents can report outages or downed wires to ComEd at 1-800-334-7661.
ComEd does have a reimbursement program for losses caused by their system, but if it happened because of the storm, residents are unlikely to get it.
It's never easy to get up in front of a room of people to speak. But it has to be even harder when you're a representative of ComEd, and you're at a village board meeting to answer questions about the recent power outages. Although resident's frustration over recent and prolonged power outages was evident at the June 26 board of trustees meeting in La Grange Park, residents were largely understanding—and they told ComEd so. "I think everyone here is very reasonable," said La Grange Park resident Mary LaBlanc. "I think we understand, 'storm of the century.'" However, LaBlanc continued, she and her neighbors feel they've been losing power more often than just after storms. "You guys are posting record profits," LaBlanc said. "Spend some …
Monday, July 18, 2011
During last week’s power outage DeVries Grocery lent a hand to a business without power by storing Tates Ice Cream Shop’s ice cream until power was restored later in the week.
Last week’s power outages were trying on everyone. I was one of the lucky ones that had my power restored after 12 hours, although at the time I didn’t feel so lucky. I lost all the food in my fridge and freezer for the second time in three weeks. Driving around town I saw extension cords running across streets and heard generators still going on Thursday. That’s when I felt fortunate. Imagine if you owned an ice cream shop and the power went out. What would you do? Maria Marciniec, owner of Tates Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Shop, 25 S. Ashland Ave., experienced that scenario last week. Marciniec is a friendly, upbeat woman who gets to know all her customers by name. She quickly jumped into action by calling Phillies Pizza Bar and Grill, 6300…
41.814726
-87.879909
DeVries Grocery & Market
806 Arlington Ave, La Grange, IL
/articles/i-scream-you-scream-devries-helped-save-the-ice-cream
272131
/locations/4865255
41.814588
-87.872274
Tates Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Shop
25 S Ashland Ave, La Grange, IL
/articles/i-scream-you-scream-devries-helped-save-the-ice-cream
272567
/locations/4865256
41.77425
-87.946709
6300 Kingery Hwy, Willowbrook, IL
/articles/i-scream-you-scream-devries-helped-save-the-ice-cream
/locations/4865257
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The place where moms talk.
There are two parts to today's discussion on Mom Talk, so that everyone will feel they can get a chance to comment. Part one discusses the children, of course. With our recent string of long power outages in La Grange, La Grange Park and Western Springs, what do you do to keep the kids active? No power means no TV, no video games, no music, no computer—I'm going crazy, so I figure your kids are too. Sounds like a perfect opportunity to kick them out of the house on these beautiful summer days. What has your family done to make the most of half week with no power? Have you gone on any special trips? Eaten at any special restaurants? Gone to the movies? Tell us your tips for how you've used the power outage to get closer. In the second part …
Roaming Gnome
10:19 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Surge protectors are not designed to protect against sustained over voltages. Which is what the event was not a surge. A surge by definition is a momentary event. Not like when a high voltage line is dropped onto a lower voltage line for a continuous time frame. No surge protector is designed to protect against this event. It's like expecting the levies to hold during hurricane Katrina. I hope … more ›