UPDATE 11:15 PM: (Last Update Planned Until Friday after 5 a.m.) There are currently over 11,000 customers without power across 64 outage areas.
We have mobilized all available resources, with CWLP crews in the field from Electric Operations Troubleshooters, Construction, Substations, Relay, Traffic, Communications, and other support divisions responding to outages. Initial damage assessments indicate multiple snapped poles, and widespread tree and limb damage throughout the system.
Crews will continue working through the night to restore service as quickly and safely as possible. Our Electric Operations Division is fully staffed with engineers, dispatchers, and support personnel coordinating restoration efforts. Additional staff are reviewing outage and damage reports received through Dispatch at 217-789-2121 to ensure no reported issues are overlooked.
We appreciate our customers' patience and the many outage and damage reports that have been submitted. Our employees are committed to restoring power to every affected customer as safely and efficiently as possible while protecting both the public and our crews in the field.
NOTE FOR INDIAN HILLS: Customers in Indian Hills will remain without power until Ameren crews return on site tomorrow to complete their work for equipment attached to our pole.
UPDATE 9:15 PM: This evening round of storms had high winds and lightning causing trees and limbs to fall. There are over 10 distribution circuits locked out, and two transmission lines are open. Crews are patrolling to find cause and work will proceed to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.
UPDATE 8:50 PM: Electric crews are responding to more power outages after a new round of storms hit Springfield after 7 p.m. Over 10,000 customers are impacted across multiple areas across Springfield. CWLP crews, contract crews, City personnel, and other first responders are in damage assessment and still monitoring the storms to ensure public safety.
Approximate areas of the largest outages include:
• E. Cook to E. Laurel west of Taylor
• Grand Central
• Lake Springfield (S of Toronto Rd, Crows Mill, Lake Park, Hunting Meadows, Lake Pointe, Lake Knolls)
• Lincoln Park
• Oak Ridge
• Old Jacksonville & Monroe
• W Washington near Jefferson Park
• W. Koke Mill
• Washington Park
• Woodside Rd.
UPDATE 8:30 PM: Customer outages are now up to 6,900 customers. Crews will work to restore power as quickly and safely as we can. Work will be completed in order to restore power to the largest groups of customers first and addressing safety issues.
We appreciate your patience as more reports come in and damage is found. Our Electric Dispatch is very busy compiling reports and organizing resources. We'll continue to update information here.
DRIVE NOTE: Traffic lights are out in many areas. Stay off the roads if you can. Remember to treat traffic signals out as a stop sign and drive with caution.
UPDATE 8:20 PM: Current outages are at 1,995 customers. The largest outage group is 1,425 customers located in East Springfield from E. Cook St. to E. Laurel St. between E. Taylor St. and S. 12th St. In addition we have another 21 pockets of smaller outages. Crews have been dispatched to patrol, assess damage and make repairs.
UPDATE: 7:50 PM: We have some early outages noted west Springfield and west of downtown in various areas with the last storm activity tied to trouble with two transmission lines in addition to a number of circuits impacted. Outages are tied to a few circuits from our Westchester, Jerome, Amos, Palomino and Washington, Madison, Durkin and Taintor substations. We will update with
more specific locations as more information becomes available.
Electric Dispatch can take new outage reports 217-789-2121 and we will soon update known locations here.
With 70+ mile per hour winds the tornado sirens were activated.
UPDATE 7:30 PM: There is a storm front coming through now causing new circuit outages. We'll update here soon. Stay safe.
UPDATE 5:30 PM: On Crew Deployment--Prompt power restoration is top priority and safety of CWLP crews is paramount. To ensure the two goals are met, CWLP must give its employees 8 consecutive hours off work after 16 consecutive hours of work.
Over 100 CWLP personnel have been working in the field and more than 50 trucks deployed in power restoration efforts. For contract crews, 40 crew members have been deployed and 32 trucks. There are currently 10 crews on assignment working on remaining outages, 5 from CWLP and 5 Contract Crews. In preparation for another possible evening round of severe storms, some crews are not on duty and are on standby ahead of the potential for more damage.
UPDATE 2:15 PM: Outages are down to 189 customers in two areas. This includes 180 customers in the Indian Hills area and 9 customers out east of HWY 54 along Camp Butler Rd.
Restoring power to this last group in Indian Hills will take some time. The broken pole has both CWLP and Ameren wires and equipment on it so we aren't able to complete all the work on our own. We will put together a list of the area of Indian Hills impacted since our map isn't showing it.
No restoration time is available for the 9 customers along Camp Butler Road at this point. This is where three transmission poles are broken.
UPDATE 12 PM: Outages Down to under 850 customers across 9 outage areas. There are approximately 10 broken distribution poles and 3 transmission poles among system damage from the high winds.
Large Outage Areas include:
• 180 Indian Hills area where half was recently restored
• 219 area between E. Ridgely Avenue and E. Watch Avenue near Lawless Park, broken poles
• 203 area near Northgate along Scarborough to Stanhope impacted, broken poles
• 6 other smaller pockets of outages across the city
Damage / Crew updates/Locations from 9 a.m. briefing. There are approximately 10 broken distribution poles and 3 transmission poles among system damage from the high winds.
• Sangamon & Piper (1 broken pole)
• Colt Rd. (3 broken poles)
• Lincoln Park
• Juneteenth festival temporary prep
• West St. (4 spans of primary down, 1 pole)
• Indian Hills (trying to re-energize as many as possible)
• Neptune (primary down)
• Pasfield Place (primary down)
• N. 23rd (pole ROW)
• N. 22nd broken crossarms to pole
• N. 12th (almost done)
• Veterans & Browning
- for tree on wire in progress since height of storm
• Three, 75’ broken poles E of Buffalo work commencing soon
-Wires and poles are cleared off road
-Assembling materials for replacement
UPDATE 10:25 AM: We just had a group of 1,600 lose power again from circuits served by our Factory and Taintor Rds subsations. We're patrolling to find new cause. Last time was a tree that fell.
UPDATE 9:15 AM: At the height of the storms over 5,300 customers were impacted. Current outages as of 9:15 a.m. are at 1,277 customers located in three large areas on the north side of town and in a number of other smaller pockets where distribution or individual service line damage has occurred. This includes:
• 436 Northgate area, broken poles
• 392 Indian Hills area, broken poles
• 219 area between E. Ridgely Avenue and E. Watch Avenue near Lawless Park
• 15 other smaller pockets of outages
Damage assessment and crew work is underway by CWLP, contract crews, City personnel and other first responders. Crews are working to restore power to the largest groups of customers as quickly and safely as possible. THANK YOU as we work through this significant damage to get the lights back on quickly and safely.
UPDATE 7:45 AM: Power was restored to the 1600 customers where the limb was cleared by 7:40 a.m. Crew work and damage assessment continues.
Thank you for your patience as call volume at Electric Dispatch has been high. We will detail out specific outage areas soon.
UPDATE 7:30 AM: A limb will be cleared from a line and power should be restored to the 1600 customers on two circuits out of our Factory and Taintor substations shortly.
FROM EARLIER: Crews have worked through the night on the power outage from two rounds of storms that at the height had over 5,000 customers without power in the north side of Springfield primarily. Wind damage has caused multiple poles to break and bring power lines down. Outages were down to 1,200 and now are at close to 3,000 after a tree fell impacting to new circuits around 7:15 a.m. There are currently a large number of customers impacted along Sangamon Avenue, N Peoria Rd, along with Northgate, Indian Hills and neighborhoods near the Fairgrounds. Crews will work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.
We will update this post with more information shortly.
The public should be sure to use caution in any cleanup effort. Any downed wires should always be considered energized and potentially dangerous. Stay away, warn others to stay away, and call to report at 217-789-2121.
Note part of Sangamon Avenue is closed and should be avoided. Some traffic lights may be on a flash or out in outage areas and to treat those as stop signs.
