FRANKFORT, KY – Kentucky Power continues efforts to restore power to approximately 2,200 customers affected by this week’s devastating ice storm. At the peak of outage cases, more than 33,200 customers lost power as ice and snow accumulated over the company’s 20-county service area. With the assistance of close to 1,000 restoration personnel, the company is working as safely and quickly as possible to restore service to customers:
 
Restoration Notes:
Although the ice buildup on trees has mostly melted across the service area, the ice storm will continue to manifest itself for days ahead as broken limbs continue to fall from trees. Windy conditions can add to the problem as wind dislodges branches and limbs onto power lines and equipment. Warming conditions over the weekend aided restoration efforts, but wintry weather is expected in parts of the service area today.
 
Downed power lines continue to be a problem 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.
 
Customers should be aware that Kentucky Power cannot connect power to any home or business where there is damage to the electrical service entrance. The service entrance is the area located 1) at the meter, 2) between the meter and the home’s electrical panel, or 3) the location where Kentucky Power’s cable connects to the home/business owner’s cable. Customers need to have a qualified electrician repair this damage and a state inspection performed before power can be restored to the home or business. Kentucky Power’s Customer Solution Center representatives can provide customers more information about this requirement by calling (800) 572-1113.
 
Customers still without power can help restoration efforts by turning off any powered equipment and appliances that were on at the time power went off. This will help prevent surges on the electrical system that can lock out the circuit and/or damage electrical equipment. Customers are encouraged to leave one noticeable inside light on as a means of knowing when power is restored. They are also asked to leave a porch light on to assist power crews in quickly determining when power has been restored to residences and/or neighborhoods.
 
The company estimates almost all customers will be returned to service before midnight tonight. However, company crews may still be cleaning up single-customers or single-service outages tomorrow. If a customer is still without power Tuesday, they are encouraged to report that fact to Kentucky Power’s Customer Solution Center at (800) 572-1113.
 
Outage Numbers and Restoration Estimates
As of 10 a.m. today, the following outage numbers and restoration information was estimated by the company. Almost 95 percent of all customers affected by the storm have been restored to service.
 
Cannonsburg/Ashland Area:
1,520 customers out of service
Boyd County: Full restoration estimate: Midnight, tonight
Carter County: Full restoration estimate: Midnight, tonight
Lawrence County: Full restoration estimate: Midnight, tonight
 
Paintsville Area:
680 customers out of service
Johnson County: Full restoration estimate: Midnight, tonight
Magoffin County: Full restoration estimate: Midnight, tonight
 
Customers and media representatives can track the number of outages in their area by going to www.kentuckypower.com and clicking on "storm & outage center" then "see current outages." The site provides a customer outage count by county.
 
Kentucky Power is an operating unit of American Electric Power and provides electricity to approximately 175,000 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.
 
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