Storm and Outage Details

Situation

Nearly 2,000 field personnel are working across Appalachian Power's (APCo) service area on Friday to restore power to customers impacted by an overnight storm system that brought heavy rain and strong wind gusts. At the peak, approximately 53,100 customers in APCo's three-state territory were without power, with 42,000 in West Virginia. Ongoing wind in Virginia is continuing to bring down trees and electric infrastructure, causing new outages.

Outages

At 4 p.m., approximately 30,700 APCo customers are without electric service. Damage across the area is widespread, including downed power lines, broken utility poles and significant tree damage. In some locations, repairs are complex and require multiple crews and specialized equipment, which extends restoration times.

Restoration Estimates

APCo's Storm Response team expects to restore power to 95% of customers impacted by 11 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 20. A snapshot view of current outages is available anytime at AppalachianPower.com/OutageMap.

Areas with known Estimated Times of Restoration (ETRs) are below:

Storm Response Efforts

APCo planned for outages from this windstorm and is now carrying out its plan to restore electric service safely.

• Crews are continuing to assess damage and make repairs whenever conditions allow.
• Wind gusts over 30 mph create unsafe working conditions for working aloft in buckets, which could slow restoration efforts in some areas.
• Company line employees and contractors are working in their own areas or traveling to damaged areas to assist with repairs.
• Mutual assistance crews from surrounding states are supporting restoration efforts.

Weather

• Once wind speeds decrease, weather will remain favorable for power restoration work.

Safety Messages

• All downed lines are dangerous — they carry an electric current that can cause serious or even fatal injuries. Stay away to stay alive. If you encounter a fallen wire, keep yourself and others away from it and anything it may be touching, and call 911 and APCo at 1-800-956-4237 immediately.
• If you use a portable or RV generator, do not plug it into your circuit breaker box.
• Additional safety tips are posted at AppalachianPower.com/Safety.

For More Information

Customers can get specific information about the outages affecting their accounts via text message and/or email by subscribing to APCo's Outage Alerts. To sign up, visit AppalachianPower.com/Alerts.

A snapshot view of current outages is available anytime at AppalachianPower.com/OutageMap.

Next Update: Saturday, Dec. 20, 10 a.m.