Emergency? Call 1-800-ALLIANT (1-800-255-4268)

News Release

Alliant Energy crews head to Illinois to help with storm restoration

At peak, nearly 250,000 customers without power in western Chicago suburbs

MADISON, Wis. – July 2, 2012 – Alliant Energy has sent employees from its Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL) subsidiary to Maywood, Illinois to assist Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) with storm restoration in the northern region of its service territory.

A total of 30 WPL employees, mostly line technicians, will help repair damage done by the severe storms that hit that region on Sunday night. According to ComEd, most of the damage to its system was caused by lightning and high winds, which uprooted trees, downed power lines and damaged electrical equipment.

“We are glad that we’re able to send these crews down to help our neighbors in Illinois who have seen extensive storm damage and widespread outages,” said Vern Gebhart, Vice President, Energy Delivery – Alliant Energy. “The loss of power is never convenient, but with the extreme heat we’re experiencing in this region it is even more critical to get service restored quickly and safely.”

The WPL crews are expecting to be working in the area for several days. It’s important to note that while WPL has sent these crews to help out of state, the utility still has enough resources to cover its service territory in the case of storm related outages.

Media Contact: Steve Schultz (608) 458-3285