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Power Outages

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Garrett Bill Will Hold ComEd Accountable

Task force of municipal officials drafts white paper for state senator to turn into legislation.

When state Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, called a meeting in July to bring municipal officials and ComEd executives together to resolve some of the problems arising from severe summer storms, Glenview Village Manager Todd Hileman asked to attend. Little did Hileman know he was volunteering to head a task force that presented a white paper Tuesday at a news conference sponsored by the Northwest Municipal Conference in Chicago that Garrett will turn into legislation to hold ComEd accountable for its actions. More Storms, More Problems Hileman served on a similar task force three years ago after an earlier series of storms and thought some progress was made. But when Glenview Village Hall lost power for more than a day in June, he …

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Patch Flash: Sheriff's Police Called to State Sen. Home for Domestic Dispute

Chicagoland news to talk about: Six-year-old battles cancer with new proton therapy.

First-year Republican Illinois State Senator Suzanne "Suzi" Schmidt was involved in her second domestic dispute call in just over a month at the Lake Villa home she shares with her husband Monday. No arrests were made in either incident. Schmidt was the chairman of the Lake County board from 2000 to 2010. A car crash on Tuesday, in Skokie, has left more than 1,500 ComEd customers without power. The accident happened near Hamlin Avenue and Harvard Terrace. The utility poles were snapped in half upon impact. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene before authorities could arrive. A 14-year-old girl who had been sleeping on a sofa in west suburban Maywood was killed early Tuesday when a car crashed into the apartment where she lived and …

Stanley P Lorenz

5:35 pm on Thursday, September 29, 2011

A similar incident happened in our family, and the pollice said"once we are called out on a domestic disturbance and there is violence involved one or both parties will be arrested' This is a Illinois law on domestic violence. Sounds like we got both parties getting very violent and nothing was done about it:I WONDER WHY !!! by the way my son did get arrested for throwing a CD and scratching his …   more ›

Monday, September 26, 2011

Lake Bluff Takes Closer Look at Electricity Aggregation

Resolution would need to be passed by December to post referendum on March 2012 ballot.

The saying, "there’s power in numbers,” will begin to have a double meaning to Lake Bluff residents as the village considers a resolution to establish an electricity aggregation program as early as December. A referendum could appear on the primary ballot on March 20, 2012. According to village officials, the aggregation program is based on the same premise that governs economies of scale principles and sources: bulk purchasing of materials, in this case electricity, through long-term contracts. The volume of the overall purchase, in turn, reduces the cost per electrical load and those savings, as high as 15 percent to 20 percent, could be passed on to Lake Bluff residents. Electricity aggregation programs have become more commonplace …

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Patch Flash: New Law Strips License of Medical Pros Convicted of Sexual, Violent Crimes

Chicagoland news to talk about: Job hunters have tough task; Argonne expansion to bring 1,000-plus jobs.

  State Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale is responsible for a new law that goes after physicians and health care workers who are convicted of sexual and violent crimes. The law will strip the licenses of physicians and health care workers convicted of sexual and violent crimes. “I’m the father of two young daughters. It made my blood boil when I realized that convicted sex offenders were still potentially working as pediatricians, or given positions of trust working with disabled individuals or the elderly,” Dillard explained   It's no easy feat, the business of finding someone a job. Doubly so in a bad economy. Yet North Shore staffing agencies are tackling that difficult task: Connect the too large pool of candidates with the too few job …

Helen

6:40 pm on Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Way to go Kirk Dillard !! This law is common sense.   more ›

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Officials Seek More Oversight Of ComEd With Smart-Grid Bill

Current version doesn't put enough pressure on utility company, critics say.

Lake Bluff Village Administrator Drew Irwin wants to make sure ComEd doesn't forget the smaller communities when it comes to power outages. "We get very little attention,” Irwin said. “Small communities had the same problems. I'm glad to see ComEd will be taking a more community-oriented approach.” A number of municipal officials testified about the difficulties their communities faced because of the outages after the June 21 and July 11 storms at Tuesday's hearing of the Illinois House Public Utilities Committee in Highland Park.  State Rep. Karen May, D-Highland Park, arranged the meeting in the northern suburbs after more than 1.2 million ComEd customers were left without power in the aftermath of storms June 21 and July 11.  Longtime …

Jim Powers

4:24 pm on Wednesday, August 17, 2011

I hear your helplessness when it comes to one company seemingly holding all the cards. I'm glad at least the legislators want more put into the bill, but it seems strange, at least to me, to design a piece of legislation for one company.   more ›

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

ComEd’s Legislative Support Evaporates

Lawmakers demand accountability from utility.

Dissatisfaction with answers from ComEd at a hearing of the Illinois House Public Utilities Committee on Tuesday in Highland Park is causing members of the General Assembly to rethink their support for legislation favored by ComEd.  State Rep. Karen May, D-Highland Park, arranged the meeting in the northern suburbs after more than 1.2 million ComEd customers were left without power in the aftermath of storms June 21 and July 11.  Twelve members or substitute members of the committee heard ComEd President and Chief Operating Officer Ann Pramaggiore tell a gathering of more than 200 people at the Highland Park Country Club that the company is prepared to make changes. Pramaggiore also said smart-grid legislation passed by the legislature and…

Monday, August 15, 2011

State to Convene Public Utility Hearing Tuesday

Karen May, Daniel Biss and others to question ComEd, Illinois Commerce Commission.

Are you one of the more than 1 million people of Chicagoland who have lost power due to summer storms?  Do you want to let your representatives in Springfield know your story?  Do you want to hear what ComEd and the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) — the agency that regulates ComEd — have to say?  All of those things and more are possible at a meeting of the Illinois House of Representatives Public Utilities Committee meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday (Aug. 16) at the Highland Park Country Club.  The meeting was organized by state Rep. Karen May (D-Highland Park) after thunderstorms and high winds knocked out power to more than 1 million ComEd customers. Many were without electricity for days.  In Winnetka, which provides its own electric power…

Friday, August 12, 2011

Electrical Cooperatives: An Alternative to ComEd Locally?

In the wake of summer storms and massive outages, a look at Winnetka's independent approach.

While some North Shore residents were without electricity for up to five days after massive storms June 21 and July 11, no one in Winnetka was out of power more than 12 hours.  As ComEd struggled to restore service to more than 400,000 customers in the aftermath of the June 21 outages and more than 800,000 in the wake of the July 11 weather, Winnetka took care of itself.  Communities like Glenview, Highland Park, Lake Forest and Wilmette rely on ComEd to provide power. Winnetka has been generating or supplying its own for more than 100 years, according to Brian Keys, the village’s director of water and electric. Winnetka residents also pay less.  According to Keys, people in Winnetka paid $59 less for electricity this year than the average…

John Welch Fitness

9:40 pm on Friday, August 12, 2011

My share of the Grid is Green as 100% of my supply is sourced from locally certified wind power! Bye-Bye Brown!   more ›

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Patch Flash: Fake Lawyer Goes to Jail; Falling Tree Kills Teen

Chicagoland news to talk about: River Casino reviews; Will today’s heat make history?

  A Lake Forest High School student was fatally struck by a tree Monday while camping in the Teton Wilderness in Wyoming. Elizabeth Burns, 16, would have been a junior. Memories of the teen are being posted on the Lake Forest Patch Facebook page. Will this week's extreme heat be one for the history books?  High temperatures coupled with humidity could tip heat indexes over 105 degrees at times Wednesday through Friday — a marker that has only been recorded 31 times over the past 20 years in the Chicago area. Lake in the Hills Patch reports on the history of high heat indexes.   Thousands of ComEd customers were without power in the Glenbard region during Tuesday’s extreme heat. The Glen Ellyn Patch reports that the outage was due to …

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Severe Storms Have Lake Forest Considering Outage Emergency Plan

Price tag from three significant storms in the past month: $180,000.

Over the past month, it has seemed that as soon as Lake Forest city crews made some headway in the cleanup and repair process from a major summer storm, another one would blow through, forcing them to start over again. Three damaging storms have downed countless trees, limbs and power lines in the past three weeks, bringing endless power outages that have brought frustration to Lake Forest residents and city officials alike. The Lake Forest City Council received a breakdown of the total damage from the storms at its first meeting since all three occurred. Each storm was different in nature, and hit during a different time of the day. However, the high frequency has led to city leaders to consider taking serious steps to come up with an …

Bonita

6:39 am on Tuesday, July 19, 2011

I am encouraged that City officials are deciding to take some extra steps! The City is our advocate, and has far more "clout" with Com Ed than any of us! Rumors of "sizzling trees" remaining on power lines for days on end cannot make us feel safe! Hearing that the city could not get through to Com Ed was shocking! We need someone at City Hall with a direct line--not automated -- to Com Ed to …   more ›

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