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January 14, 2003
5 P.M. FINAL MEDIA UPDATE FOR JANUARY 14
Naperville, Ill. - January 14, 2003 - Late this afternoon, Nicor Gas reported it has restored heat to all but 20 customers - mostly businesses - the result of four nights and five days of a massive, around-the-clock effort by Nicor Gas crews to end the outage for Wilmette and Evanston customers that began Friday when Nicor's system was flooded by the rupture of a Wilmette high pressure water main.
The company reported that 929 customers have complete service and 88 more who live in multi-family buildings have heat and hot water, but not yet gas for cooking in their individual units. That accounts for 1,017 residential, multi-family and business customers. Nicor expects to reconnect the remaining 20 services as soon as possible.
"We want to thank our customers for their patience and cooperation; the city officials, police and fire from Wilmette and Evanston for their generous support; and the many Nicor sister companies, plus our partnering consultants and contractors and Peoples Energy, who all combined to make this restoration possible," said Rocco D'Alessandro, senior vice president of operations for Nicor Gas. "This is a testament to teamwork and perseverance overcoming extremely challenging circumstances."
Nicor Gas is one of the nation's largest gas distribution companies. Owned by Nicor, Inc. (NYSE: GAS) a holding company, Nicor Gas has provided safe, reliable natural gas services for more than 45 years. The Company serves two million customers in a service territory that encompasses most of the northern third of Illinois, excluding the city of Chicago. For more information, visit the Nicor Web site at www.nicor.com.
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Note to Editors: Because restoration of the remaining commercial services will be happening on a case-by-case basis, we will provide an update by approximately noon tomorrow, Wednesday, January 15. Thank You. | 
