Deerfield sues ComEd over power outages
Individual complaints with a utility company are common, but Deerfield has taken its frustration to a new level, filing a lawsuit on behalf of its 18,000 residents against ComEd.
The class action suit filed Thursday in Lake County Circuit Court alleges the power company is in breach of its franchise agreement with the village for failing to provide reliable service for years.
"We want ComEd to do something. It's not just money damages we're looking for," said Mayor Steve Harris. An update and special announcement regarding ComEd was to be discussed at a public forum Thursday night.
"They don't get it," Harris said of ComEd. "Do I want to keep talking to them? Absolutely. Now if they don't do what they say they're going to do, they'll have the court to answer to."
In a statement Thursday afternoon, ComEd said it was disappointed the village chose to sue. A reliability program for 2008 to address "pockets of the community where reliability has not met the expectation of our customers and the company alike" has been presented to Deerfield officials, the company said.
"Until today, the village had only expressed satisfaction with this approach," according to the statement. "We are confident ComEd's service in Deerfield is an asset to the area's economic growth and quality of life."
Chronic power outages have been occurring in Deerfield since at least 2000, the suit alleges, with 82,347 individual customer power outages in 1,377 separate events.
Last year, for example, 223 outages lasting 1,096 hours -- about 46 days, or nearly 5 hours per outage -- affected more than 15,000 customers, according to the allegations.
The poor service has caused many residents and businesses to buy backup generators and battery-operated sump pumps, the village claims. The company's own reliability reports showed 10 circuits serving the village from 2001 to 2006 were among the worst performing in the Northeast service area, the suit claims.
The company knew the service was inadequate and unreliable but failed to fix the problems, the suit alleges. The village is asking for more than $50,000 in actual damages and an unspecified amount in punitive damages.
ComEd also refuted the village's claim that only 13 percent of the outages were weather-related, saying not all outages resulting from bad weather are designated that way. High winds causing trees to fall on equipment are designated as "tree-related" for example, according to the company.
The action is unusual, said David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer watchdog.
"I'm not familiar with any other examples like this," he said. He said ComEd service has been better since its meltdown in the torrid summer of 1999, but there is room for improvement.
"It's pretty unique. I think it shows there is substantial discontent."
The state should pass strong service quality standards for electric companies like those for the telecommunications industry, Kolata said.
In 2000, the General Assembly passed legislation requiring SBC, now AT&T, to adhere to certain standards with penalties and compensation to consumers who received poor service.
"There really aren't those standards in place for electric (utilities). Unfortunately, it's pretty weak," he said.