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(WSIL)---Before the temperatures get cold, Ameren is already preparing for the winter weather. 

Tuesday night, crews are already on standby, in case the power outages begin.

Those crews are mainly worried about ice combined with wind.

That can cause a lot of problems for powerlines.

That ice can cause power disruptions, and unfortunately, Ameren is expecting outages to happen whenever the weather turns icy.

So in the event your power goes out, make sure to report those outages to Ameren.

"If customers are out of power, they need to call us to report their outage. That number is 800-755-5000, or they can log into the website at , or they can report their outage using the mobile phone app. Don't assume that your neighbor is gonna call in the outage. The more folks that notify us, the better. That actually helps us to find where the outage is, who's out, and get folks to the right place faster," said George Justice, the Vice President of Electric Operations at Ameren Illinois. 

Ameren hopes that in the event of a power outage, the power won't be out for too long. 

When Ameren decides how to go about fixing outages, they go to where the most people are affected, to the least amount of people.

That means more populated areas will probably see crews quicker than rural areas.

So when crews are making their way to less populated areas, where roads are also likely to be less treated than high traffic areas, it's important that crews can get there as quickly and as safely as possible.

"To get down some of these country roads, and we got parts of the state that are expecting 12 to 16 inches of snow and so it's going to be difficult enough for us without traffic and the less traffic the better," said Justice. 

Now if you see Ameren workers, be careful.

You never know if a down line is active, so to be safe, give workers plenty of space.