Restoration of service progress continued today at a steady pace as crews began addressing individual outages impacting fewer numbers of customers.  As of 4:30 p.m., approximately 1,160 customers remained without power within the Abilene District, as compared to approximately 14,400 at 10:30 Wednesday morning.

“Melting ice has created very muddy conditions making access difficult in some areas,” said Greg Blair, AEP Texas manager of Community Affairs and Customer Service.  “We’ve had to bring in bulldozers and other special equipment in some situations.”

Long icicles that had formed on branches, utility poles or transmission structures have presented treacherous situations over the past few days.  As the ice began to melt, the icicle can fall and hit a worker.  The crews refer to the spear like icicles as ‘widow makers’.   

“These crews are continuing each day as long as they can safely work to get customers back online,” Blair said. “We understand the inconvenience created by outages especially during this type of weather.  The response from customers has been supportive, and that means a lot to these crews.  Despite the long hours, the crews are committed to restoring power as quickly as safely possible.  

Breakdown of Areas with the Most Outages
and Adjusted Preliminary Estimated Restoration Times

(As of 4:30 p.m. 10/29/2020)

Area      Number of Customers Out                        Estimated Restoration Time Frame

Childress                410                                                9 p.m. on Thursday

Abilene                    10                                                Achieved 95 percent restoration

Vernon                   510                                                9 p.m. on Friday

Stamford               160                                                noon on Friday

Hamlin                    60                                                  5 p.m. on Friday                                          

Cisco                        2                                                 Achieved 95 percent restoration

These estimates may change as restoration efforts continue and are projections for restoration of service to most customers, who can take power. There are a significant number of individual outages that will have to be addressed on a one-to-one basis and will require additional time to restore service.

Customers can track the status of a specific outage in their area by visiting the Outage & Problems section at www.aeptexas.com.  The section features an outage map with the most current status projections.