Elmhurst Experienced 144 Power Outages in 2010, Not Including Outages During Major Storms

Last year, 27,714 Elmhurst residents—63 percent of the city’s population—were affected by power outages. According to data released by ComEd and analyzed in a July 30 Chicago Sun-Times article, Elmhurst experienced 141 outages in 2010; the average outage was 82 minutes.

The data “excludes 22 storm days,” according to the Sun-Times.

Of the 326 towns listed, Elmhurst was No. 13 for the most outages. Aurora came in at No. 1, with 315.

Here’s how area towns measured up:

The data also measures outage minutes per customer, which is the total number of customers’ outage minutes divided by the town’s population.

“This is an indication of overall system reliability and allows for comparison of towns regardless of population,” according to information on the Sun-Times search page.

Elmhurst residents experienced 52 minutes of outages per person.

According to the Sun-Times article, the analysis gives “ammunition” to suburbanites who feel they are a low priority when it comes to restoration of power.

ComEd has said burying the power lines is not an option in Elmhurst. The utility giant has successfully lobbied its Smart Grid proposal and rate increase through the Illinois General Assembly, a plan ComEd says is the best bet for improved reliability.

Gov. Pat Quinn has pledged to veto the plan, saying he cannot support a plan that brings big profits to the company at the expense of customers, who would be paying an additional $36 a year.

ComEd recently ranked 112th out of 124 utility companies nationwide, and second worst in the Midwest, in a JD Power and Associates residential customer satisfaction survey, according to the article.