Ameren stands by storm response

Power lines
Ameren Illinois Community Relations Coordinator Paulina Heinkel says the power company is standing by its response to last week’s ice storm. (Photo courtesy Flickr)

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – Many people are upset with Ameren after an ice storm last week left thousands without power for several days.

Ameren community relations coordinator Paulina Heinkel said the utility company did all it could, given the conditions.

“It hit with high winds, with ice, and not only that, we had floods,” Heinkel said .”When you’re combating that as a utility, there’s a lot that you’ve got to work up against.”

Heinkel said there more than 1,000 power lines down because of the storm, along with more than 700 downed power poles and service lines.

“We had to attack it from many angles,” Heinkel said.

Our news partner WMBD reports that three Peoria councilmen are actually calling for an investigation into how Ameren responded to the storm. The Illinois Commerce Commission is waiting on a report from Ameren before it decides if an investigation is warranted.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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