Severe winter weather – snow, ice, and high winds – is expected to hit northern Illinois. BGE lineworkers will support peers from ComEd as outages are anticipated across the region.
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Forty BGE lineworkers and additional support personnel, as well as 24 contractors, will spend Saturday, Jan. 11, on the road to northern Illinois ahead of a major winter storm expected to affect BGE’s Exelon sister utility ComEd. Snow, ice, and high winds threaten to cause power outages throughout the service area. Exelon utilities PECO and PHI are also providing additional support.
“BGE has benefited from assistance provided by ComEd and others in the past and we understand the importance of supporting them now,” said Stephen J. Woerner, BGE president and chief operating officer. “We appreciate our people who are willing to go and safely support the restoration efforts in Illinois so that customers there are brought back online as quickly and safely as possible.”
Mutual assistance between utilities allows resources – both trained lineworkers and materials – to respond where need is greatest. For example, in 2017 BGE sent dozens of employees and contractors to help restore electric service to customers in the Southeast affected by Hurricane Irma. In March 2018, a powerful nor’easter caused more than 435,000 outages in central Maryland; crews from ComEd and utilities in 13 other states responded to help restore power quickly.