Peoria, Illinois Power Outage Today

How reliable is Ameren Illinois service in Peoria?

Ameren Illinois is an investor-owned utility with 1,249,900 customers. In 2024 its customers averaged 1.13 interruptions and 224 minutes (about 3.7 hours) without power, so the average outage lasted about 3.3 hours.

Major event days, the severe-weather days that utilities report separately, made up about 46% of that time. Without them the average is 121 minutes, so weather matters here but ordinary equipment faults and tree contact account for most of the total.

The typical outage was repaired in about 3.3 hours.

For comparison, Illinois as a whole averaged 157 minutes and the United States 614 minutes. That puts Ameren Illinois above the state average.

Among the 19 utilities in Illinois with at least 5,000 customers that report to the federal government, Ameren Illinois ranks 13th for the fewest outage minutes (1 is best). Nationally, 45% of the 926 utilities of that size reported more outage minutes in 2024.

These are the figures the utility itself reported to the US Energy Information Administration (Form EIA-861, 2024) and describe the whole service territory, not one street. Your own address can be better or worse.

Storm season and outages in Peoria

NOAA’s Storm Events Database lists 315 storm reports for Peoria County from 2015 through 2026, most often thunderstorm wind (167), hail (112), flash flood (19), and tornado (11). The busiest full year was 2020 with 61 reports and the quietest was 2021 with 4, so the risk changes a lot from one year to the next.

Reports peak in June (68 since 2015), followed by July and August. October is outside those three months, so an outage now is less likely to be weather-related.

NOAA’s own narratives name power outages in 8 storm episodes in Peoria County since 2015, most often in June. That count is a floor, since the database records outages only when a spotter or agency mentions them.

What the most common storm types in Peoria do to the grid:

• Thunderstorm wind. Straight-line wind pushes trees and limbs into distribution lines. These outages are usually local, a street or a neighborhood at a time, and crews clear them circuit by circuit.
• Hail. Hail rarely cuts power by itself, but it often arrives with the wind and lightning that do, and it breaks solar panels, windshields and exposed utility equipment.
• Flash flood. Floodwater reaches ground-level transformers, meters and low-lying substations. Utilities may shut power off ahead of the water on purpose, and wading near flooded equipment can electrocute.

Storm reports that name Peoria

Within Peoria County, 91 NOAA storm reports since 2015 name Peoria as their location or in their description: thunderstorm wind (42), hail (30), flash flood (13), and tornado (2). That is about 29% of the county’s reports. Reports naming Peoria are most common in June. The busiest full year was 2017 with 15. These reports record 1 death and 2 injuries in total.

In NOAA’s own words, storms that left Peoria without power:

• June 14, 2017 (thunderstorm wind): “Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Peoria Heights.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
• June 20, 2015 (thunderstorm wind): “Tree limbs were blown onto power lines at Route 40 and US 150 and at Route 40 and Glenn Avenue in Peoria.” Source: NOAA Storm Events Database

Who a power outage hits hardest in Peoria

67.2% of occupied homes in Peoria are heated with piped natural gas, and 31% with electricity (US 41.3% electric). A gas furnace still needs electricity for its blower and ignition, so a long winter outage leaves these homes cold too, though a gas supply stays on when the grid fails. Never heat a home with an oven, grill or camp stove indoors.

Residents aged 65 or older are 16.8% of the population in Peoria, close to the US share of 17.2% and 14.7% report a disability (US 13.3%). These are the households most likely to depend on powered medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, CPAP machines and refrigerated medicine. If someone in your home does, ask Ameren Illinois whether it keeps a priority or medical-needs list, and register before the next storm rather than during it.

About the housing: 54.9% of the housing in Peoria was built before 1970 (US 35.5%), and older neighborhoods often have overhead service lines and mature trees close to the wires, which makes them more exposed to storm outages.

Median household income in Peoria is $59,410, below the Illinois figure of $83,390. For many households, replacing a freezer of spoiled food or paying for a hotel during a long outage is a real hardship; dialing 211 connects to local shelters, warming or cooling centers and utility assistance programs.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 (housing, heating fuel, age and disability tables).

Backup power and electricity use in Peoria

The average Ameren Illinois home used about 853 kWh a month in 2024 (US average 892 kWh), an average draw of 1.2 kW around the clock, and paid about 15.3 cents per kWh (15.1 in the state, 15.8 nationally), roughly $130 a month.

Keeping only the essentials on (a refrigerator, router, a few lights and phone chargers, about 400 watts) through an outage that lasts the average about 3.3 hours takes about 1.3 kWh. A portable power station or a power bank covers that; a generator is more than most households here need for a typical outage.

A generator must never run indoors, in a garage or near a window; generator and food-safety rules are in the power outage guide linked below.

If the power is out in Peoria

About 113,150 people live in Peoria, the 8th largest of the 10 Illinois cities on this site. Report the outage to the utility so a ticket exists for your address, then check Ameren Illinois’s outage map for an estimate. If neighbors have power and you do not, report it again: the fault may be on the line to your house alone, which is a separate repair.

Peoria power outage map

Ameren Illinois’s outage map has the official restoration estimate for your address; the count above comes from residents. Food and generator safety: power outage guide.

Peoria power outage questions