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’re 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, which were featured in a Columbus NBC4 news story here.
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.
Thank you for taking steps to humanely prevent animals from coming in contact with wires.
While I am reading all of this i still can not wrap my head around my electric bill going from 150. Last year too 281 this year. How much is the average increase? I am 72 years old this is a lot of money to me. Next month am I looking at 400. Plus? I went looking for carrier i could not find which was probably good for both him and I. Just seems a lot
Joanne
Joanne, we know that higher-than-expected bills can be unwelcome news. How much energy a customer uses is the biggest factor in their electric bill. The hot, humid summer months mean that air conditioners may be running longer to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home, even if you haven’t adjusted your thermostat. Additionally, a recent change in the generation supply price meant that the average customer on our Standard Service Offer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month saw an increase of about $27 per month.
We have had 3 substantial AEP outages in the last month or so, all caused by tree-trimmers. So, animals down; humans up.
I can attest the animal mitigation works really well!
Two winters ago, our power was out three times in one month – twice within two weeks. Because this happened right outside my window, I asked the AEP repairmen what happened and he said it was squirrels. The third time, he told me he was putting in an order for the animal mitigation work. Since then, we haven’t had a single animal related outage in my area.
Thank you, AEP! This really helps customers, and it prevents the animals from dying. I also want to mention your repairmen responded quickly, and were very friendly.
We’re glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing.
I have seen a section of Columbus where the power poles look like trees. These are so much more aesthetic than the current tired old poles. Is there any effort in the works to convert ? I feel that efforts like this makes our community so much more appealing.
Hey Steve, can you provide any more info about where you’ve seen these? We’re not aware of any in the area. We’ve heard of cell phone towers being disguised as trees, but are unaware of any utility poles like this.
First off I want to say I think it is wonderful you guys are speaking directly to the customers. I also want to make note that I don’t believe it is public knowledge what these linemen and hard workers actually make, but they also need to know the sacrifices these people make to keep our power grid going. I think nowadays honesty is what a lot of people are looking for. You can’t fight reality, It’ll always win. I also can say in my rural area we need our wildlife to help sustain us for our food. So the question is, are the reduction in animal deaths due to conservation efforts for the animals and helping their populations grow? Or are they because the populations are dwindling and that makes for statistics to go down, averages are averages? Either way, I think we need to look to the Future for a sustainable way to give electricity. I think we need to find a way to keep our planet healthy and ultimately the people living on it healthy from all of the craziness that is happening right now and all of the craziness we are learning about our health and our environments. We need to keep our planet healthy for the children and the future generations, just as much as the presence. Sustainability was what America was founded on Fords that went on and on forever are fridges that still to this day present 2025 are working like well-oiled machines and work better than any of the plastic fridges. I currently have sustainability. Is something to invest in now and we’re done with single use. How can we make that work for electricity?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Angelena. The results we’re seeing are that this equipment is preventing outages caused by animals, which likely means fewer animals are being harmed by coming into contact with our equipment. We can’t speak to your other questions, but we appreciate you taking the time to comment.