FRANKFORT, KY  – Kentucky Power continues efforts to assess damage and restore power to more than 8,600 customers following severe weather that included tornados Friday night.  At the height of outage cases, more than 14,000 customers lost service due to the extreme weather conditions. Today, Kentucky brought in an additional 260 contract line workers and 102 contract tree trimmers to assist in restoration efforts.  The company expects to have at least another 212 contract and AEP workers from other states on site Sunday to assist in restoration efforts.

Damage was widespread across the company’s 20-county service area, with Morgan, Johnson, Lawrence, Magoffin and Martin counties sustaining the worst damage and consequently the most power outages. Company crews continued damage assessments throughout the day today and worked to restore customers to service where possible. Downed phone lines, extensive storm debris and out-of-service cell towers also make access and communications difficult in some areas, leading to further difficulty in assessing damage and restoring power. Initial reports indicate more than 175 utility poles down or broken across Kentucky Power’s service area.

Restoration Notes

Company officials caution outage numbers are still fluid and can change. In some of the hardest hit areas like Morgan, Johnson, Magoffin and Martin counties, extensive reconstruction work will be needed to return these devastated areas to service.

Downed power lines continue to be a concern and company officials caution eastern Kentucky residents to never approach downed power lines or wires of any type. No matter how harmless a downed wire may appear it should be considered energized and dangerous.  Report all downed power lines to Kentucky Power at (800) 572-1113 or notify local emergency or law enforcement officials immediately.  Never approach or touch anything that comes in contact with a downed power line.

Outage Numbers and Restoration Estimates

As of 9:30 p.m. today, the following outage numbers and restoration information was estimated by the company.

At this time the company provided the following outage numbers by service area:

Kentucky Power does not serve all residents of the counties listed.  Many are served by other utilities.

*Note:  Near total restoration estimate. Estimates are subject to change given work progress. Most customers will be returned to service well before the time/date indicated.

PLEASE NOTE: 

Customers and media representatives can track current power outages in their area by going to www.kentuckypower.com and clicking on the “March 2, 2012 Storm” link in the red box at the top of the page.  To see a list of power outages by county, click the “Outages & Problems” tab, then the “view outage map.” The outage map site is updated continuously.

Kentucky Power is an operating unit of American Electric Power and provides electricity to approximately 173,000 customers in all or parts of 20 Eastern Kentucky counties.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to 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. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.

###