This afternoon, for the second time within one month, the electrical service went out. No storms, no wind, no excess air conditioning, no explanation. As far as electrical service goes Glen Ellyn is little better than many third-world countries.

Unnecessary, repetitive and redundant quote removed. --Ted E.

We lose service an average of once a month. A minimum of two hours each time. We have contacted Com Ed field reps, supervisors, and the like, to no avail. We also have a number of "brown outs" each month. My neighbor said her stove is no longer functioning properly due to this. Very frustrating, as it is only our street that goes black. We gather outside watching the neighbors enjoy power. Good luck.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ted E.,

And the posh YMCA district is down for the count.

Not in this posh half.

Isn't Carl on your street?

Hey we were down. Just (literally) came back on. That was after 5 fits and starts.

Patience...

ComEd Awarded $4 Million in Federal Economic Stimulus Funding To Expand Green Vehicle Fleet and Test Impact on Electric Grid
Reuters • Oct. 16, 2009

My power stutters more than Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda…
Hey "Conned us Ed" – put another hamster on the wheel and see if I can go a whole month without having to reset my clocks!

I was tempted to shut down the main breaker to the because it was stuttering so bad.

WHY IS IT ALWAYS OUR STREET? Perp had power because his street NEVER loses power.
What the hell was that last night? On, off, on, off............. I am SOOOOO sick of this. I can't call anymore, all I get is the run around. Winter is coming. The "outages" will inevitably increase in frequency and duration, and I am really considering a generator.
Do any of you have one?

Well, we could cut down all the trees in Glen Ellyn and you would never have a problem again. The trees are quite old and do tend to die and fall into our lines...

Nope, not buyin' it. I have spoken to numerous
field reps and other "suits" at Com Ed. You see, the next door neighbor and I are keeping a log of our "outages". Trees are not responsible for the CONSTANT brown outs and 30 minute to 2+ hour "outages" on this street. The last rep I spoke with said there was a "malfunction" they were aware of, and would fix. But, in fairness, thats just what I was told when they actually returned my calls.

I've looked into a whole house natural gas generator but the estimates were all around ten grand. What I'd like is to be able to do is hook-up a portable gasoline generator to my furnace blower. The blower now goes directly to a dedicated 15amp circuit in the main panel. Seems like you should be able to put a regular outlet on that circuit and plug the blower into it so that the gasoline generator could be used during blackouts. But electricians tell me that the code won't allow that. Anyone know why?

We went through a phase where we were losing it all the time, but knock on wood, we've been good lately. The last time we lost power was in June.

I hear it's all maintenance. ComEd either doesn't have the money or the manpower to maintain the infastructure like it should. You know how sometimes you get behind at work and are constantly putting out fires instead of being proactive? That's ComEd for the last number of years . . .

They must have replaced whatever was causing the problem by us though, since we haven't had any problems in 4 months.

quote:

Originally posted by side of FRYs:
My power stutters more than Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda… [let's] see if I can go a whole month without having to reset my clocks!

a.) It actually stutters more like Derek Jacoby in I, Claudius, and

b.) You'll have to change the clocks in another week or so due to daylight savings...

but I feel your pain...switch to the acoustic...

Unnecessary, repetitive and redundant quote removed. --Ted E.

If you opened the mains and separate circuit breakers but the furnace you could do that. Against code as it can be very dangerous- if you forget to open the main breakers and the power comes back on your house will go up in smoke. If you don't open the circuit breakers your generator will back feed your panel and try to power the entire house- again not good.

There is a way to do it that meets the code though as I remember by paranoid cousin doing this in preparation for the end of the world in 2000. There is a device an electrician can install that does the above safely- His house now has a box with a plug in it outside that he plugs the generator into. Don't know the cost but certainly way cheaper than a dedicated back up power generator.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ted E.,

quote:

...cut down all the trees..

Real electric companies support weak electric wires that run under scary branches with steel cables.

Telephone lines, for example, are inherently weaker, so the phone company reinforces them with steel cables. This is why — when you lose power because a branch fell somewhere — you rarely lose phone service.

Since electric wires are thicker and thus inherently stronger than telephone lines and therefore can support their own weight (but not much else), real electric companies rarely rarely have to add extra support — except in areas with troublesome overhanging branches. Real electric companies know that preventative maintenance costs less than emergency repairs, but — sinc all costs are passed on to us higher rates — what do they care? —Ted E. (Former Telco employee)

Wm.: the clocks get turned back this Saturday night, actually....didn't want you to be off a week

Our power (in the Braeside area between 53 and Roosevelt) used to go out anywhere from 4-10 times per year. The first year I moved in was the worst. It almost never goes out in the winter, usually just the hot summer months get us (or tornado season when the winds are high). But the last year or two I think we've only lost it a small handful of times each year. I've noticed it's gotten better in our area anyway.

I kinda like when it goes out sometimes, though. Everyone goes outside because it gets too hot inside, it kind of builds a better sense of community that way. I've met numerous neighbors (lovely people) who I otherwise probably wouldn't have.

quote:

Originally posted by ComEd Employee:
Well, we could cut down all the trees in Glen Ellyn and you would never have a problem again. The trees are quite old and do tend to die and fall into our lines...

Dear Employee,

Please believe me when I say how much respect I have for anyone that has to clime a pole in the rain to reconnect my power. I have had friend in the biz and know that it is a dangerous job.

That being said, ComEd has never been able to explain why my block goes out more than 10 times a year (rounding down) and the house across the street about 2 (rounding up). I haven’t counted them, but I find it hard to believe that there are 50 times more trees on the next block than my own.

Some grids… don’t perform as well as others. As an insider, are you really stating for the record that all of our power outages over the past 5 (I’ll pick a small number here) years are falling tree related? You are stating that it would never happen again. Look, I’m sure ComEd could provide these statistics, but really I don’t care. I just want it to work.

I get that it is hard to provide constant and completely uninterrupted power. I was downtown Chicago for the “flood” and saw all of the mobile boilers running buildings until the main loop grid could be powered back up. But, how many times has that grid gone down since then?

Wasn't CEE known as Complain at one time?

That's odd.