INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Storms sweeping across Central Indiana today resulted in nearly 25,000 IPL customers without power as of 6 p.m. Saturday. Additional storms and outages are expected, due to high winds, hail and lightning. Customers without power should activate their storm plan and report their outage online at IPLpower.com/outages while staying away from downed lines, as well as crews and contractors responding during COVID-19. Our power restoration process is designed to address emergency situations and critical customers first, and then we will move to restore as many customers as possible, as quickly as possible.
IPL launched a new, free outage alerts feature for all customers with access to the internet. Customers should update their online account preferences by enrolling in outage alerts and notifications to keep updated on the latest available information from IPL as the storm event progresses. Customers can visit IPLpower.com/emPOWER to register for outage alerts.
Currently IPL crews and contractors are on-scene and en route to multiple incidents across the service territory to address immediate issues, such as unsafe downed power lines and potential fire hazards. Due to the number of reported incidents, IPL customers should activate their safety plans:
- Keep freezers and refrigerators closed as much as possible. The refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours. Use coolers with ice if necessary. Monitor temperatures with a thermometer.
- Maintain food supplies that do not require refrigeration.
- Avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Generators, camp stoves or charcoal grills should always be used outdoors and at least 20 feet away from windows. Never use a gas stovetop or oven to heat your home.
- Check on your neighbors by phone or exercising social distancing.
- Turn off or disconnect appliances, equipment, or electronics. Power may return with momentary “surges” or “spikes” that can cause damage.
- Customers with medical needs requiring electricity should contact IPL directly and inform the agent of their medical equipment/medical device needs.
- IPL wishes to remind customers during difficult times, scammers come out of hiding. All IPL crews and contractors have proper identification. If you suspect suspicious activity, ask the person to produce their ID. If you’re unsure, call IPL directly.
- When customers experience extended outages, we often get questions about why some homes have power and others do not. Often, customers on different sides of a street are supplied power from separate connections. If a problem occurs with one of those connections, customers on that line may lose power while customers on another connection may still have power. Crews begin their work to restore the maximum number of customers and work down to individual homes and businesses.
About Indianapolis Power & Light Company
Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL), an AES Company, provides retail electric service to more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Indianapolis, as well as portions of other Central Indiana communities surrounding Marion County. During its long history, IPL has supplied its customers with some of the lowest-cost, most reliable power in the country. For more information about the company, please visit www.IPLpower.com or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Courtney Arango
Indianapolis Power & Light Company
Mobile: 317.220.1501
courtney.arango@aes.com