(CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS - February 19, 2021) As of 1 p.m. Friday, AEP Texas has restored power to 97 percent of customers across the service territory affected by the load shed event this week. Crews and employees will continue working until all customers are restored.

AEP Texas expects to restore power to nearly all customers by late Friday.

Freezing temperatures, snow and ice continue to affect some areas of the state, which may slow restoration efforts. Crews are finding damage to our electrical system from the winter storm that must be repaired before some circuits are energized. AEP Texas is utilizing all personnel to address these issues as safely and as quickly as we can.

"We have continued to make significant progress and have  restored power to over 420,000 customers who were out of service," said Jeff Stracener, vice president of Distribution Region Operations. "Our customers' patience and their efforts to conserve energy have been crucial to our efforts. Everyone at AEP Texas knows this has been a difficult time and is working to get your power back on. We are not done and we will continue to working until everyone who can take service is restored."

On Friday, ERCOT cancelled emergency condition designations.

Please continue to stay safe. Listen to safety alerts from your local authorities. You can find warming centers around the state at this link https://tdem.texas.gov/warm/ or by visiting AEPTexas.com.