Preparing for winter weather

AEP Southwesten Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) is preparing for winter storms across its service territory, with highest impact in Arkansas, where heavy accumulations of ice and snow are expected. SWEPCO has assembled over 350 total resources from Oklahoma, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana and Texas to assist with storm recovery efforts.
SWEPCO’s power outage report number is 1-888-218-3919, available 24 hours a day.
Customers also can report outages online and on mobile devices at SWEPCO.com. Customers can look for outage updates on SWEPCO.com and Facebook.com/SWEPCO.
SWEPCO has an emergency preparedness team at Shreveport, La.-based Distribution Dispatch Center that continuously monitors winter storm conditions in the company’s Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas service areas. SWEPCO work crews are on standby alert for power restoration efforts.
“Winter storms can do extensive damage to our electrical system,” Malcolm Smoak, SWEPCO’s VP of distribution region operations in Shreveport said. “The combination of ice build-up, snow, high winds and heavy rains can often lead to uprooted trees or broken limbs on power lines.”
SWEPCO anticipates the increased workload and mobilizes crews to potential affected areas. “The distribution and transmission dispatch area tracks all restoration efforts in order to provide updated information for the public with daily reports through the local news media,” David Milford, manager of transmission dispatch operations said.
“The company’s Customer Solutions Center (CSC) is staffed around the clock to take power outage calls from concerned customers,” Linda Cosby, CSC manger for SWEPCO said.
 

For more information, see our E-edition at http://www.etypeservices.com/SWF/LocalUser/Atlanta1//Magazine41163/Full/...