How Reliable Is Your Illinois Power Provider?

Lemont IL

26 February, 2021

4:21 PM

Description

LEMONT, IL — The monumental power failure in Texas caused by unseasonable cold showed how extreme weather can push an electric grid to the brink. The average U.S. power customer loses electricity for 1.5 to 2 hours annually even before extreme weather events are taken into account, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As the Texas experience showed, hurricanes, snowstorms, heat waves and other extreme weather events can make such outages dramatically worse. Customers in Illinois state experienced 1.94 hours without power in 2019 — 2.76 fewer hours than the national average of 4.7 hours in 2019, which is the most recent information available, according to the EIA. Nationally, 3.2 hours of downtime occurred during major events such as hurricanes and blizzards in 2019, and 1.5 hours occurred during non-major events. The average 2019 interruption time was shorter than 2018 and 2017, which saw total average outage times of nearly six hours and nearly eight hours respectively. Still, 2019's average total outage time was higher than 2013 through 2016, according to the EIA. The number of hours without power can vary widely from state to state, especially when many extreme weather events such as hurricanes, snowstorms and wildfires occur. North Carolina electric customers likely remember many hours in the dark during 2018 — the average customer in that state spent nearly 30 hours without power, much of that due to Hurricanes Michael and Florence. The states with the highest average total interruption time per customer in 2019 were Maine, West Virginia, California, Michigan and Mississippi, according to the EIA. Maine had severe winter storms and California had large wildfires. The states with the least amount of average downtime were Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and Washington, D.C. The EIA collects outage data from electric utilities annually and asks for information with and without major outages. The two major metrics are: How often the average customer experiences a non-momentary power outage during a year, referred to as the system average interruption frequency index. How many minutes the average customer is without power annually, referred to as the system average interruption duration index. Most electric utilities use standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to make their calculations. The IEEE uses a complex formula based on a utility's historical data to determine whether an outage qualifies as a major event. It also only counts outages longer than five minutes. Utilities are mostly owned by investors, cooperatives or municipalities. Investor-owned utility customers spent an average of 5.1 hours without power in 2019 while municipal customers spent an average of 2.1 hours and cooperative customers had about five hours without the lights. Here's how utilities in Illinois did during 2019, according to data from the EIA. Editor's note: This list was automatically generated using data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Please report any errors or other feedback to [email protected]. Can't find the utility provider you're looking for? Try searching for it here. Commonwealth Edison Co Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 4,131,059 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.47 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.86 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.79 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.63 Ameren Illinois Company Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 1,244,558 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.98 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.2 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.16 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1 MidAmerican Energy Co Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 85,214 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 3.97 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.63 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.45 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.04 City of Springfield - (IL) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 70,991 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.46 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.16 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported City of Naperville - (IL) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 59,717 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.27 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.4 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Corn Belt Energy Corporation Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 36,209 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 5.48 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 4.12 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 5.29 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 5.05 Southeastern IL Elec Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 24,179 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 3.26 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.46 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.68 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.44 Southwestern Electric Coop Inc - (IL) Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 23,401 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 3.21 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.03 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.96 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.84 Jo-Carroll Energy, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 20,726 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.02 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.05 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.96 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.65 Tri-County Electric Coop, Inc (IL) Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 16,417 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.13 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.54 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.38 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.14 City of St Charles - (IL) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 16,007 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.42 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.42 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.69 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.69 Eastern Illinois Elec Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 13,454 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 5.4 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.21 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.16 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.35 Southern Illinois Elec Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 11,138 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 3.8 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.74 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Menard Electric Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 11,055 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 4.7 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.39 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.37 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 2.09 Illinois Rural Electric Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 10,308 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.87 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.87 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported City of Geneva- (IL) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 10,153 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.53 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.53 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.36 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.36 M J M Electric Cooperative Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 9,402 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 32.41 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 7.33 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Adams Electric Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 8,665 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.83 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.83 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.29 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.29 Monroe County Elec Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 7,421 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 3.48 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.48 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.44 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.44 Click here to see the numbers for more Illinois utility providers.