Com Ed Repairs Lines to Reduce Storm Damage

Com Ed is making repairs to electrical lines in hopes of decreasing power outages that plagued and fueled customer anger throughout last summer.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a $2 million upgrade should make it easier for the village's aging electrical instructure to withstand the kind of punishment from high winds.

The Tribune reports the 10,000 feet of new overhead electric lines called "Hendrix cables," were added in the worst-hit areas of town. A lot of the damage from the storms were due to downed trees, ComEd officials said.

Improvements were last November, months after village officials, residents and public officials blasted the utility giant over its response to the massive outages that hit the region last summer.

Last June, storms packing winds of up to 81 miles an hour in Wheeling, hit and other communities. In Northbrook, tornado sirens went on at 8:50 p.m., according to the village.

Electricity in the center of town and continued to remain out more than 48 hours after the storm passed. and the remained without power for some time during one storm. That week, the grocery store had to throw out several dumpsters worth of food.

The response drew anger from Northbrook Village President who blasted for the duration of time that customers were out of power as well as its lack of communication or miscommunication.

Local conducted . Public anger simmered and boiled over in August when of residents around the region expressed their frustration with ComEd during a public meeting in Glenview.

That response may have led Northbrook and other communities to put referendums on the ballot. Aggregation allows for the bundling of accounts and purchase energy through another supplier. That referendum was successful, but the village will still have to go to ComEd to repair the lines.