ComEd hopeful it can restore power to 5,000 final customers today

ComEd executives said this afternoon they expect power will be restored sometime today, Saturday, to the last of about 5,000 customers, most of whom are in the Gurnee area.

At a news conference in a crew staging area outside the Gurnee Mills shopping center, ComEd officials said the utility still came close to restoring power to all customers affected by Monday’s brief-but-mighty storm by midnight Saturday.

“I set a goal and we came close to that goal — over 99 percent,” said ComEd’s chairman and chief executive officer, Frank Clark. “But we did not hit it.

“I know how difficult it is for these customers who are still without electricity five days into our restoration effort.”

At its peak, roughly 868,000 customers were without juice. ComEd has replaced more than 350,000 feet of cable and wire, roughly 400 poles and 200 transformers.

ComEd officials said the utility’s restoration effort will exceed $80 million, twice its annual storm budget.