AEP, Magic Valley work to restore power for outage customers

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Numerous customers across the Rio Grande Valley were without power during the cold temperatures on Tuesday.

According to figures from AEP, at the height of power outages across the state, nearly 50% were here in the Valley.

AEP and Magic Valley Electric Cooperative reported tens of thousands of customers had lost power overnight Monday and Tuesday.

Both companies relayed that they had successfully restored power to many of those affected. However, they warn this is a fluid situation and they are still working hard to bring everyone back online.

Cleiri Quezada, Corporate Communications Manager for AEP Texas said, “I believe it was around 28,000-35,000 customers that experienced some type of power outage throughout the night when we did have that arctic cold front come in and impact the area.”

“As we’re understanding, most of the outages are transmission-related. Meaning these are issues that are dealing more with the high-voltage lines that carry electricity over long distances. Whereas distribution issues are a little bit more centralized within a person’s home,” Quezada said.

Communications Manager for Magic Valley, Juan Hermosillo, said that the peak number of customer outages was approximately 1,500. That number also went down substantially during the day on Tuesday.

Both AEP and Magic Valley said a freezing event is different from other natural disasters such as hurricanes however, there are still things it can do to plan ahead.

“The crews were notified. We have contractors on standby. We distribute some materials and some supplies throughout offices to have them closer to cities,” Hermosillo said.

Hermosillo and Quezada said they could not predict where outages might happen, so they have to make sure their equipment is in good working order and pre-staged to improve efficiency.

Quezada said, “We take into consideration tools, equipment, and gas. Our crews make sure that their tires are working properly. So it’s just about assessing everything we have. Ahead of the cold front, in this case.”

Quezada explained that power restoration can sometimes be delayed because of factors like high wind, that could put AEP employees at risk. They might have to hold off on their work until crews can do it safely.

Hermosillo said that one challenge his crew faces are downed trees, either because of high winds or damage suffered from freezing conditions. Magic Valley contracts with tree trimmers to help clear those obstacles.

Hermosillo asked customers to be conscious of the electricity they are using, shortly after power has been restored. Using large appliances or leaving space heaters running in unoccupied rooms can put a strain on the system, causing further outages. He recommends easing into electricity use after work has been completed.

AEP and Magic Valley have power outage maps on their respective websites dedicated to updating customers on where and how many have been affected during an outage.