ComEd concerned about outages with wet, heavy snow covering power lines in Chicago area
VILLA PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- The wet, heavy snow that fell across the Chicago area Tuesday can weigh down power lines – knocking out the lights for neighborhoods and keeping utility crews busy.
As of Tuesday night, there were 154 ComEd customers without power – not many. In west suburban Villa Park, there was a decent amount of snow on the ground, and on the power lines – where it was blamed for outages.
Car beams were the only lights in one Villa Park community, as homeowners found themselves waiting for ComEd on a chilly night.
"It's bright in candlelight," said James Wilcox as he sat on a couch with his wife, "and I might pour her little a bottle of wine."
The flicker of candles eliminated the Wilcox family's living room. The 2024 winter storm left them in the dark right when they arrived home.
"We unlocked the door, came home, heard a loud boom, asked my wife, 'What's that?'" said Wilcox. "Then boom! No power - and it's the whole horseshoe."
ComEd crews were forced to get to work across Lake Villa and around the Chicago area.
"Please have patience," said Vito Martino, vice president of distribution operations for ComEd. "Stay warm."
We spotted ComEd workers on the poles working in the height of the storm. ComEd told CBS 2 they have more than 800 crewmembers ready to combat possible outages – when and if they pop up.
They were monitoring the storms Tuesday night at the ComEd Operation Control Center, or OCC, located in Joliet.
"OCC is the command center of the ComEd system; of the ComEd grid," said Martino.
The center is filled with radars and dispatchers to let those workers on standby know where they should move next.
The snowstorm combined with rain equals heavy, thick snow – and much of it builds on power lines. ComEd said that combo, along with one other thing, leaves them to worry.
"I'll put third aspect to this, too, is the freezing conditions – if there's freezing conditions," said Martino. "The thing that we have that we would be concern about with this heavy snow is weighing down the conductors; weighing down the wires."
It is all part of an effort to keep candles from burning in lieu of an electric light source, and neighborhoods from staying in the dark.
Late Tuesday, the temperature was dropping and winds were picking up. If the snow remains on the power lines, it could be a bigger issue for ComEd – and the utility company will be monitoring the situation not only Tuesday night, but when another snowstorm comes on Friday.