Restoration of service to customers impacted by the west Texas winter storm is entering its final phases.  As of 4 p.m., the number of customers without power totaled approximately 250 in the Abilene District, as compared to approximately 14,400 at 10:30 Wednesday morning. 

"The restoration team will continue addressing individual outages until we have restored service to every customer whose home or facility is capable of taking power," said Greg Blair, AEP Texas manager of Community Affairs and Customer Service.  "Our crews are committed to restoring power to everyone as quickly as safely possible.

"We thank all area customers for their patience and support during the restoration process," Blair continued.  "The support from city leaders, businesses and local residents has been overwhelming.  We also thank the contractors and AEP Texas crews from other parts of our service territory.  Their assistance has been crucial to this restoration effort."

The estimated restoration time for the Vernon and Hamlin areas has been pushed back to 9 p.m. on Saturday with many residents in those areas likely will be restored  earlier.

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

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

Area      Number of Customers Out                        Estimated Restoration Time Frame

Childress                  50                                              Achieved 95 percent restoration

Abilene                      2                                               Achieved 95 percent restoration

Vernon                   150                                               9 p.m. on Saturday

Stamford                   0                                               Achieved 95 percent restoration

Hamlin                     50                                               9 p.m. on Saturday                                     

Cisco                         0                                               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.

This is the last update that will be issued on this restoration effort.  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.    

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