Electrical distribution equipment is built to endure the kinds of extreme conditions that come with life outdoors. But various factors still cause power outages — severe weather, trees outside the right of way falling on our powerlines and animals making contact with our equipment.
At AEP Ohio we are working to make outages shorter and less frequent as part of our commitment to providing power without interruption. By combining new technology with strategic deployment of our crews, we can continue providing the safe and reliable electric service that customers expect.
AEP Ohio’s Center for Customer Reliability (CCR) team is devoted to using technology and data to prevent or shorten outages . Among other work, the CCR team collects data to pinpoint problem poles where squirrels and other furry friends frequently cause power outages. They shared the last three years of data with AEP Ohio’s operations team to create and implement mitigation plans.
Those plans include wrapping poles with black plastic to prevent animals from using their claws to climb and affect the electrical equipment. Another tool crews are using is called a “critter guard” which is designed to block animals from climbing on power lines and other overhead electrical equipment.
“Between the targeted wrapping of poles and blanketing entire circuits with pole wraps we have made a significant impact in outages caused by animals other than birds,” AEP Ohio Reliability Manager Keith Schalmo said.
Recent data shows that the number of these types of outages has dropped nearly 50% compared to last year.
“June’s numbers are significantly lower than in past years. In 2024, we recorded 1,053 outages, while this past June we only experienced 586 outages,” Schalmo explained. “These results show that our proactive approach is working. By combining data-driven insights with practical field solutions, we’re not just reacting to outages — we’re preventing them before they happen.”
This approach, newly enabled by data and technology, ensures better and uninterrupted power for our customers.
“Whether it’s through innovation, collaboration or simply learning from past trends, our goal is to stay one step ahead of the problem. And thanks to the dedication of our teams, we’re doing just that,” Schalmo said.
