It’s no secret climate change is increasing the intensity of storms.
The historic storm, known as a derecho, that northern Illinois faced exactly one year ago today is just one example. The 15 tornadoes, hurricane-force winds, significant lightning and driving rain, interrupted power to more than 800,000 customers.
Damage from the derecho storm
If not for investments ComEd has made in the grid, this storm would have caused more customers to be out of power a longer period. Since 2012, ComEd has made investments to withstand more frequent storms brought about by climate change and avoided more than 16 million customer interruptions by automatically rerouting power around problem areas.
Following the derecho, ComEd crews safely restored a half-million customers in less than a day– the fastest time in ComEd history.
The value of these investments was in full display during the derecho when ComEd crews safely restored a half-million customers in less than a day– the fastest time in ComEd history.
To learn more about ComEd’s system investments in your neighborhood that are providing greater resiliency as climate change increases, visit ComEd.com/SmartGrid
