Power Struggle: Residents Seek Village’s Help After Repeated Outages

A group of Romeoville homeowners says it wants to have a sit-down with ComEd representatives after years of sporadic power outages.

Several Evergreen Court neighbors were at the Aug. 3 village board meeting to ask officials to intercede on their behalf with the electric company.

The homeowners say they don’t believe the outages are related to recent summer storms or record-high temperatures.

“Since 1998, the power has gone out 43 times,” Richard Strom said. “Probably 10 times were storm-related problems … It went out in the middle of winter on a nice day.”

Mayor John Noak said the village is well aware of the problems several areas of Romeoville, including Evergreen Court, have had with power outages.

“We will get on them and we continue to monitor and talk with them on a regular basis,” Noak told homeowners. “We will work with them on this to try to get them to address it.”

Strom and neighbors Gail Ranieri and Jamie Barcus said the power problem is affecting residents who live on the horseshoe-shaped Evergreen Court near Murphy Drive. In some cases, outages have lasted long enough to cause real issues, they said.

On July 29, a sunny, storm-free day, Strom said, some residents were without power for nearly 12 hours.

“We just tough it out,” Barcus added.

Some homeowners have lost entire refrigerators full of food, Ranieri said. Recently, ComEd workers who came out to restore power removed a section of a small, decorative fence around her yard, causing her dogs to get out, Ranieri added.

Strom said he believes the problem stems from outdated ComEd equipment and faulty underground wiring in the subdivision.

“We know the [ComEd] workers on a first-name basis,” Strom said. “They’re well aware of it.”

The neighbors say they want to village to help facilitate a meeting between ComEd and homeowners so they can hear what the company plans to do to resolve the ongoing problem.

“We’re trying to force them into a meeting,” Strom said. “We want to see a plan, a timeline, for when it’ll be done.

“We want our problem fixed.”

The final outcome, however, is largely out of the village’s hands. Noak reminded homeowners that ComEd is regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).

“Ultimately, the state has the bigger hammer” to pressure the company to take action, the mayor said, urging residents to contact State Rep. Emily McAsey (D-Lockport) and State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D-Joliet) about the issue.

Strom, who claims he’s been pushing the issue for two years, said he has already filed a complaint with the ICC.

“We will be happy to try and set up whatever we can with ComEd,” Noak said, but noted that it may not be resolved as quickly as residents might hope — especially since Evergreen Court is just one of many areas throughout the state experiencing issues with power outages.

“The issue is being addressed,” Noak said. “We need to work with them and take the time to do it right.”