Ameren blackout on coldest night this year

An old or weather-effected fuse in the Ameren Muddy substation caused an early morning blackout that left about 5,800 Ameren Illinois customers without power on the coldest night this year.

The power outage impacted Harrisburg, Eldorado, Ridgway, Shawneetown and New Haven.

Norma Riley of Eldorado said, "My house got down to 52 degrees. I was froze. The dogs stayed in their blankets."

Jean Sweitzer of Harrisburg said, "It seems to have started after midnight according to the clocks that stopped at my house."

Brian Bretsch, an Ameren spokesman said, "They were so busy getting power restored they did not tell us whether the fuse was just old or affected by the cold. They switched power from Norris City to bring the area on line. All customers' power was restored by 2:20 a.m."

Temperatures reached a low of −12 degrees at 6:15 a.m. Thursday and a wind chill of −22 degrees at 2:15 a.m. At midnight the temperature was −6 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.