Oak Lawn Residents At Odds With ComEd Over Power Surge
OAK LAWN, Ill. (CBS) – Dozens of Oak Lawn families lost power over the weekend, but the real problems started when the power came back on and fried their computers and appliances.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports about the disagreement between those residents and ComEd.
Linda Russell says a power surge cooked her coffee maker, singed her special surge protector and went into her computer over the weekend.
"I'm at about $3,600, and I'm not even finished totaling it yet," she says.
She says it all started when the power came back on after an outage in Oak Lawn Saturday night.
ComEd says wildlife took out a power line on 95th street and another one on 91st and Cicero. Residents say they've been told a raccoon is to blame.
Village Trustee Alex Olejniczak says ComEd supplied claim forms for residents at a meeting this week. He wants the utility to pay up.
"I'm keeping track of over 50 customers that had major, major damage -- washing machines, dryers, refrigerators," he said.
Garry Bernier opened his 2-year-old fridge. The light doesn't come on.
"Just look at this, please. Help us out. Because we're taking a big hit on this," he says.
