ComEd Replacing Lines After Residents Hit With Repeat Power Surge

NORTHBROOK, IL — ComEd is set to replace electrical lines that failed twice in the same area, triggering power surges that affected more than 4,000 residents, the Northbrook Star reported. In September 2014, and then again on Sept. 4, 2018, bare wires falling into each other along Waukegan Road at Voltz Road and at Walters Avenue, destroying appliances and electronics a second time at some of the same homes.

The company said it planned to replace a power line in the area as a safety precaution, Carlo Cavallaro, ComEd external affairs manager, told the village board about three weeks after the most recent power surge.

Residents said they were never compensated after the first event. When they contacted ComEd, several were told it was an "act of God," they told trustees.

The homeowners disputed that characterization, suggesting at the Sept. 25 meeting the damage was the result of negligence and unsafe infrastructure on the part of the power company.

"This is now their responsibility because after the first time you are on notice," a resident told Pioneer Press. "You don’t get to do this twice to the same neighborhood."

A ComEd spokesperson told the Northbrook Star the existing bare wire would be replaced by covered wire to reduce the likelihood of further such incidents.

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