When will the power be back in Charleston, IL?
| Utility information | Our restoration forecast |
|---|---|
| Official ETA, when the utility posts one | Independent estimated return window when trend data allows — often available first |
| Utility-reported status & customer counts | Confidence range + whether the outage is growing, stable, or restoring |
How the forecast works: we analyze how quickly customers are being restored, whether the outage is still growing, current weather, outage size, and similar past outages in this area. Every completed forecast is compared with when power actually returned. As of Aug 19, 7,878 completed outages have been graded this way — median error 2 hours across the most recent 600 of them (about 1.9 days), and we publish the misses. See the full record (how it works). Independent and unofficial: never the utility's commitment.
Track current power outages in Charleston, Illinois — customers reported out, restoration progress, active weather alerts, and an independent restoration estimate. Charleston is a city in Coles County; when the serving utility's public feed reports Charleston directly, this page shows the city's own outage count and restoration time, with the county-wide view as context.
Charleston is a city of about 17,361 residents in Coles County.
Ameren has reported outages for Charleston by name on its own public outage map (most recently observed 2026-08-17) — so when Charleston is affected, this page can show the city's own customers-out count and restoration time rather than only the county-wide total.
ZIP codes in Charleston: 61920 Checking a ZIP goes straight to the address-level view for that area.
Around Charleston: the closest other places we track are Mattoon, about 10 miles to the west; Effingham, about 32 miles to the southwest; Terre Haute, IN, about 43 miles to the east; Urbana, about 43 miles to the north. Also nearby: Champaign (44 mi N), Decatur (48 mi NW), Mahomet (50 mi N), Danville (55 mi NE), Rantoul (57 mi N), Taylorville (59 mi W), Vincennes, IN (66 mi SE), Crawfordsville, IN (78 mi NE). Looking further out, the nearest place we track is: north toward Pontiac (100 mi); northeast toward West Lafayette, IN (94 mi); east toward Bloomington, IN (91 mi); southeast toward Washington, IN (79 mi); south toward Evansville, IN (109 mi); southwest toward Mount Vernon (90 mi); west toward Wood River (110 mi); northwest toward Lincoln (78 mi).
Who serves Charleston?
We track live outage data from Ameren ↗, Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative in Coles County — but several utilities can serve one county, so confirm your own by searching your address on the live map. See the forecast panel above for how the estimate works — its inputs, its independence from the utility, and how every completed forecast is scored against what actually happened. Outages below 5 customers are too small for a meaningful area-wide estimate — the page says so instead of guessing.
Common questions
When will my power be back on in Charleston, IL?
It depends on the cause and how many crews are working. When's the Power Back? combines the live outage count, the current restoration rate, weather, and local history into an independent estimate for the Charleston area — shown even before your utility posts an official restoration time. Check the live power outage status at the top of this page.
How do I check the power outage status in Charleston, IL?
This page is a live power outage status check for the Charleston area: current customers out, the affected areas on the map, and an independent restoration forecast when enough trend data is available, refreshed about every 15 minutes from utilities' own outage maps and the federal government's county outage data. To narrow it to your own street, search a Charleston ZIP code — 61920 — and the map opens on that area. Your utility's own outage map remains the official word for your account.
How do I report a power outage in Charleston, IL?
Report it to your electric utility — crews are dispatched from customer reports. Utilities tracked in Coles County include Ameren, Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative; confirm your own provider, then use its outage line or website. Reporting a downed line helps crews find the fault faster. In a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
Does this page show Charleston specifically, or the whole county?
Both, and for Charleston we have the city-level view: Ameren has published outages for Charleston under its own name, most recently seen on 2026-08-17. When Charleston is affected, you get its own customers-out count and restoration time, with the Coles County county-wide total shown separately as context. Don't add the two together — the county figure already includes Charleston.
How accurate is the restoration estimate?
Every estimate is later graded against when the tracked outage was substantially restored (~90% of customers back), and the track record is published on our accuracy page. Estimates firm up a few hours into an outage once a steady restoration trend appears; very small outages are marked "too small to estimate" rather than guessed.
