ComEd Doing Better Job For Elmhurst: Officials

ELMHURST, IL — ComEd would have had much better numbers in Elmhurst last year if one storm had not taken place.

According to ComEd statistics, an Elmhurst customer experienced about two power outages on average annually from 2007 to 2012.

But in the years since, the average number has dropped to less than one, except 2020, which saw the number rise to 1.27. That's because of the powerful Aug. 10 windstorm. Without that storm, the number would have been .67, the least since 2017.

In a presentation to the City Council on Monday, ComEd representative Cynthia Thomas said the utility had to capture the storm in its numbers.

"It happened. We had folks who were out for multiple days," she said.

The storm also had a big effect on the average length of an outage for a customer in 2020 — 15 hours. That was a big increase from previous years, when the number ranged from 1½ to two hours. Without the storm, the average outage would have been less than an hour, the least in more than a decade.

An alderman asked Thomas how well Elmhurst fared compared to other nearby towns during last August's outages.

Thomas said Elmhurst was the hardest hit among the 18 DuPage County towns for which she is responsible.

After the presentation, Elmhurst aldermen praised ComEd for its work.

"Since I joined the council, ComEd has made a lot of improvements," Talluto said. "Please keep it coming."

Alderman Mark Mulliner agreed.

"I appreciate all the work that ComEd has done since it started with storm hardening. There is more that needs to be done," he said. "It's a wonderful change from where we were 10 years ago, 15 years ago."