Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content

Restoration Process

For immediate medical assistance or emergencies, please call 911.

When you’re in the middle of an outage, we know it can be frustrating to wait for your power to return. ComEd works to restore services as quickly as possible, putting the safety of our customers and crews first. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Restoration Priorities

We work on restoring power to customers in the following order:


•  High-voltage transmission lines and equipment, to restore service to the largest number of affected customers

•  Critical public health and safety facilities, like hospitals, police and fire stations, and water treatment plants

​•  Major distribution lines and high-density housing

•  ​Any remaining smaller neighborhoods and individual homes that have not been restored by prior repair activities 

Damage Assessment

After severe weather with widespread damage, we may need to have our crews come out to take a look before we start repairs and provide an estimated time of restoration (ETR). In some cases, this process may take several hours or days depending on the size of the storm.

Sometimes, a truck may leave your neighborhood before your power is back on. Please know that we are still assessing the larger outage situation.

Estimated Time of Restoration

At ComEd, we strive to provide our customers with the most up to date ETR. Initial ETRs are based on restoration repair history or data from past storms. Our field crews then provide more accurate ETR updates once they're able to assess the damage. During larger storms with widespread damage, it may take us more time to generate an ETR for customers.

Note: Sometimes a single address can be affected by multiple locations of damage. In this situation, repair work needs to be completed at more than one location. This can cause delays to restore power.

To receive ETR updates in the ways that work best for you, sign up or manage alerts.


© Commonwealth Edison Company, 2023. All Rights Reserved.