Ameren Illinois reported severe storms with winds up to 70 mph, driving outages that peaked near 26,000 customers.
About 23,000 customers remained without power at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, concentrated in the Bloomington-Normal area.
Downed subtransmission poles, distribution poles, and transmission structures were reported across the Bloomington-Normal region, complicating restoration work.
Power was restored to Illinois State University by 6 p.m. on move-in day, easing a key operational disruption.
Peoria and Champaign-Danville were expected to be restored tonight; restoration times for Bloomington-Normal were still being determined.
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