More than 300 Ameren workers from Illinois and Missouri are helping those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
CARTERVILLE, Ill. (WSIL)-- More than 300 Ameren workers from Illinois and Missouri are helping those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
That includes some people from our area who are helping to restore power.
Hundreds of linemen, contractors, and support personnel working for Ameren are helping to restore power to millions on the East Coast.
Ameren’s spokesman Brian Bretch says five Illinois workers are from the Marion and Anna areas. Bretch says they send people nationwide whenever mutual assistance is needed through the Edison Electric Institute.
“Once we received that request, we wanted to make sure that we didn't have any inclement weather within our service territory in both states,� Bretch said.
Bretch says a lot of linemen find it gratifying to be able to help restore power for areas that have been without for hours or maybe even days.
“They're gonna do everything they can to get that power restored as safely and as quickly as possible, but they will tell you that it's something that they live for,� Bretch says. “They like that adrenaline rush of being the individuals that put the infrastructure back in place, working with the utility to get it energized and to see the lights come on for any neighborhood, whether it's here in our own communities or here on the East coast.�
Bretch recalls when storms took out power in our area, crews from other states came to help out.
“When you see all those line trucks from other states, it really is a great morale booster, not only for you as a line worker support personnel, but more importantly you as a customer that your utility is doing everything that it can to safely, efficiently, and as quickly as possible, restore that power,� Bretch said.
Bretch says Ameren always has local crews here in case they are needed in emergencies.
