UPDATE: Brownout Causes Issues for Many in the Effingham Area Tuesday Evening

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Published on June 9 2015 5:54 pm
Last Updated on June 9 2015 7:57 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

What is being termed a "brownout" affected a large part of the north and northwest sides of Effingham and areas northwest of town to Lake Sara for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon. Service was restored just after 6pm.

A brownout differs from a routine power outage, or blackout, since some power remains on in places, but to a lesser degree than is typical. We've had reports from our Facebook friends that some outlets worked in their homes and others did not. The situation can be very hard on appliances that still try to work with the power available and it's much wiser to shut them off if you don't have full power at your property. Thankfully, things are back to normal.

Ameren Spokesperson Stacey Shangraw told us Tuesday evening that 1,166 customers in the Effingham area were without power. The Ameren Illinois outage map showed some customers without power west to Beecher City and south to Watson. Shangraw said an equipment malfunction at a sub-station was to blame for the outage.

While Shangraw couldn't confirm the claims of a brownout, she did tell us that those who feel they may have had an appliance or other item damaged during the incident can file a damage claim with Ameren Illinois. Information on how to file a claim is located here.

The WKJT transmitter site is in the affected area, so KJ Country 102.3 was off the air since the interruption began about 4:40pm. Again, full power was restored just after 6pm.