AEP provided the Icon with the following power restoration update as of the morning of July 2:
Here is the latest outage restoration update available. We continue to
work hard and safe to get power restored to all our customers and have done so with over 200,000 being put back into service. Last night's storm caused a temporary set back, and continued unstable weather creates the possibility for more outages, but we will stick with this until we're done.
Thanks for your patience and understanding and please check on the elderly and infirmed as this heat wave seems to have no end in sight,
By 8 a.m. today, AEP Ohio had restored power to more than
245,000 of the 660,000 customers affected by the catastrophic storms that moved through the state June 29 and the additional 20,000 outaged by Sunday evening’s storm.
At approximately 6 p.m. July 1, a line of new storms moved across Ohio resulting in 20,000 new outages across the AEP Ohio service territory.
Meteorologists continue to show the threat of possible thunderstorms
through Wednesday. Temperatures are forecasted to remain in the mid-90s throughout this period and through the end of next week.
Approximately 415,000 were without power at 8 a.m. today. Approximately 241,000 of those without power are located in central Ohio counties of Franklin, Delaware and Licking. In Franklin County – the hardest hit area – the number of affected customers stands at 142,000.
At the peak of the storm on June 29, approximately 45 percent of AEP Ohio customers were without power.
AEP Ohio is working around the clock to restore service to customers as safely and quickly as possible. We have approximately 4,040 AEP Ohio and outside line resources and support personnel committed to restoring power to our customers. Support resources work through the night to reconcile restoration completed during the day to prepare work packages, maps and instructions for the crews to use the following morning.
More than 390,000 customers were affected by damage to AEP’s transmission system, with more than 240 transmission structures damaged by across Ohio.
In AEP’s western Ohio service area alone, 167 transmission structures were downed by the storm between Van Wert and Ottawa. Reports of wires down and other hazards across the AEP Ohio service territory have grown nearly as fast as they are cleared.
From Saturday morning to Saturday night, the number increased from 4,700 to nearly 9,000. Reports showed more than 2,000 had been cleared, yet, following new hazard reports throughout Sunday, the number climbed to 10,500.
Hazard reports currently are at 10,000.
Today, transmission is dedicating significant resources to the hardest hit
areas of transmission system damage, including Newark, Athens and Western Ohio districts.
We are urging all customers who are using generators to report those to
AEP Ohio at 1-800-672-2231.
The event affected not only Ohio but much of the eastern U.S. This storm has left millions of people without power from the Midwest to the East Coast, including 1.4 million across AEP's eastern service territory and more than 660,000 across the AEP Ohio service territory.
Meteorologists continue to show the threat of possible thunderstorms
through Wednesday. Temperatures are forecasted to remain in the mid-90s throughout this period and through the end of next week.
