Charleston, W.Va., May 9, 2009 – Storms with heavy rains left nearly 10,000 Appalachian Power customers in southern West Virginia without electric service today. In some areas, high water from the storms is now hampering line workers’ efforts to access damaged facilities and restore power.
 
“We’re restoring electric service where we can, but there are several areas where we can’t access damaged facilities because of high water,” said Phil Wright, Appalachian Power’s vice president – distribution operations. “As floodwaters rise, we anticipate more flood-related outages and continued difficulty accessing our facilities to make repairs.”
 
Wright said workers will constantly monitor water levels in areas where access is an issue, and will move in to restore electric service as soon as conditions are safe to do so.
 
Currently, areas with outages and access issues include parts of Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mingo, Wayne and Wyoming counties.
Customers who experience a power outage are urged to report it by calling the company’s toll-free customer solutions center on 1-800-982-4237.

Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.
 
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