AEP Struggles to Restore all Power in San Angelo

SAN ANGELO, TX — AEP Texas estimates that by 10 p.m. on Sunday, crews will have restored power to 95 percent of the customers in the San Angelo area who lost power during the Friday evening storm.  Service restoration for many customers is anticipated much earlier.  

The restoration effort will continue until all customers have power.  However, the 95 percent level is considered the AEP Texas benchmark where normal day-to-day activities can resume for the utility as the remaining outages are addressed.  

As of 6 p.m. on Saturday, AEP Texas crews had reduced the number of outages in San Angelo and surrounding areas to approximately 3,600 locations, as compared with the approximately 15,500 without power around 9 p.m. on Friday.

Approximately 100 AEP employees and contractors are involved in the service restoration effort.   Crews from Abilene, Del Rio and Laredo are among those who have traveled to the San Angelo area to assist in the effort, stated Fred Hernandez, spokesman for AEP Texas in San Angelo.  

Hernandez stated that AEP Texas crews continue to repair or replace utility poles or transmission structures knocked down by wind gusts reported in some areas of San Angelo at almost 80 mph while making other repairs needed to restore power.   On Saturday morning, they began addressing over 100 separate outage issues in the San Angelo area that needed to be addressed individually to restore power to small groups of customers.  Consequently, the crews must focus on activities that restore service to small groups of customers on a case-by-case basis.

AEP urges residents to track progress on the restoration effort by visiting the outage area at www.aeptexas.com. There is a real-time map featuring the most current available information.  Customers also can sign up for outage alerts to receive updates on outages.