Overview
- ComEd said Wednesday that demand on a local distribution grid serving parts of Chicago and several west and southwest suburbs had reached a "critical level" and it urged immediate reductions in electricity use.
- The utility named specific areas for targeted conservation, including Berwyn, Cicero, North Riverside, Riverside, Stickney, Forest Park, Maywood, Oak Park and Chicago neighborhoods such as Little Village, North Lawndale, Douglas Park, Garfield Park and Austin.
- As of Wednesday afternoon ComEd reported no widespread outages, said crews and engineers were working around the clock to repair impacted equipment, and deployed extra resources to stabilize the system.
- ComEd activated a voluntary load-reduction program that asks large commercial and industrial customers to cut consumption and also told residents to raise thermostats, delay appliances and EV charging, unplug unused devices, close blinds and avoid nonessential use between noon and 8 p.m.
- The National Weather Service has an extreme-heat warning in effect through Thursday night, and sustained high temperatures can overload transformers and other equipment so continued conservation and repairs are meant to prevent outages and keep cooling available for vulnerable residents.