AEP-SWEPCO working to restore service to 6,008 customers who remain without electricity

Utility now estimates lights will be back on by 10 p.m. Tuesday in East Texas, 10 p.m. Wednesday in Louisiana

AEP-SWEPCO working to restore service to 6,008 customers who remain without electricity
More than 400 line and tree personnel headed out early the morning of Jan. 12 to continue work toward restoring electrical service to AEP-SWEPCO customers who remained without power in the wake of a winter storm two days earlier, the utility reports. (Source: AEP-SWEPCO)
By Curtis Heyen | January 12, 2021 at 4:08 PM CST - Updated January 12 at 4:21 PM

(KSLA) — The lights are now back on for all but 6,008 AEP-SWEPCO customers.

Those include 4,277 residences and businesses in Louisiana, with slightly more of those being in DeSoto and Natchitoches parishes, the utility’s outage map shows.

And crews still are working to restore service to 1,728 AEP-SWEPCO customers in Texas, primarily in Rusk and Gregg counties.

More than 400 line and tree personnel headed out early this morning to restore service to the approximately 13,000...

Posted by Southwestern Electric Power Company - SWEPCO on Tuesday, January 12, 2021

The good news for East Texans is the lights are expected to come back on sooner than originally projected, the utility reported Tuesday afternoon.

“In East Texas, crews have made significant progress restoring power. Estimated restoration times for customers in Longview, Marshall and Carthage have been moved from (10 p.m.) Wednesday night to this evening.”

Meantime, crews continue to “maneuver through slush and mud” in Louisiana to access some of areas hardest hit by Sunday’s winter storm, AEP-SWEPCO reports. The heavy, wet snow brought down trees and power lines, knocking out service to a peak of about 60,400 customers by early Monday morning.

The utility now estimates that the majority of its East Texas customers will have electricity by 10 p.m. Tuesday and that service will be restored to most of its Louisiana customers by 10 p.m. Wednesday.

RESTORATION ESTIMATES

Following are AEP-SWEPCO’s updated estimated times of restoration.

“Estimates are for 95% of customers who can take power. Many customers’ power will be restored sooner.”

LOUISIANA

Hornbeck: 10 p.m. Tuesday

Mansfield: 10 p.m. Wednesday

Natchitoches: 10 p.m. Wednesday

TEXAS

Carthage: 10 p.m. Tuesday

Henderson: noon Wednesday

Kilgore: 10 p.m. Wednesday

Longview: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Marshall: 10 p.m. Tuesday

CURRENT OUTAGES

Following are the numbers of AEP-SWEPCO customers without service as of 3:44 p.m. Tuesday:

LOUISIANA

Bienville: 11

Bossier: 38

Caddo: 214

DeSoto: 1,134

Grant: 235

Grant Parish: fewer than 5

Natchitoches: 1,163

Red River: 539

Sabine: 813

Webster: 32

Winn: 97

TEXAS

Childress: 43

Gregg: 624

Harrison: 23

Panola: 37

Rusk: 863

Shelby: 22

Smith: 115

Upshur: fewer than 5

Click here to view a map of the AEP/SWEPCO outages.

AEP/SWEPCO customers can call toll-free at (888) 218-3919 or click here to report an outage.

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