Buffalo Grove, ComEd plan second meeting over outages
Buffalo Grove officials will meet later this month with ComEd representatives to discuss some of the issues that emerged in the wake of the summer’s power outages, Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch told village trustees this week.
In addition, Neukirch said that a subcommittee of the Northwest Municipal Conference dealing with the recent outages plans to unveil its recommendations this week at a meeting of the conference’s executive committee.
Neukirch said the village’s Sept. 23 meeting with ComEd will include her and Village Manager Dane Bragg, as well as ComEd External Affairs Manager Diane Emerson. Besides the summer’s outages, they’ll also discuss concerns about the possible impact of upgrades to the Aptakisic Road substation.
A report is expected to be delivered to the village board in October.
Trustee Jeffrey Berman, a vocal critic of the utility’s response to the outages, reiterated his disappointment with ComEd’s recent appearance before the village board to explain the utility’s response.
“In light of that experience I just want to stress that it is absolutely essential that staff stress to ComEd that we need real answers, real solutions, not more smoke screens and more tap dancing,” he said.
Berman said he also hopes to learn what ComEd plans to do to improve delivery of service, both in the short and long term, now that Gov. Pat Quinn has vetoed the Smart Grid plan.
Buffalo Grove was rocked by five storms in June and July that caused extensive power outages throughout the village.
Neukirch said the Northwest Municipal Conference subcommittee, consisting of representatives from 15 municipalities, held three meetings, the first of which included ComEd representatives.
“Everyone is very similar in their frustration,” she said.
Among the issues discussed were communications with the public and municipal representatives, the regional restoration plan and prioritization of facilities and areas, and ComEd’s capital investment and maintenance plan.