Preventing outages isn’t just about keeping the lights on — it’s about keeping costs down for you.
At AEP Ohio’s Distribution Dispatch Center (DDC), specialists are working around the clock so you don’t have to think about reliability at all. They’re watching for developing weather, tracking early equipment signals and staying connected with field crews across our entire service territory. Their goal is simple: catch and solve problems before they reach your home — and before they become expensive to fix.
“A lot of this work happens before customers ever notice a problem,” said AEP Ohio’s Jackie Orozco, who recently visited the center. “By spotting issues early and staying connected in real time, we’re able to prevent potential outages and restore power more quickly when disruptions do occur.”
And the results speak for themselves. Last year, AEP Ohio helped prevent more than 18 million minutes of potential outage time. When outages did happen, crews restored power 16% faster and cut the average outage length by 10%. Catching problems early, before they escalate, helps keep rates more stable over time, too.
A recent success story highlights the important role the DDC plays. When a transmission line feeding one community’s substation was damaged, it could have meant a power outage for hundreds of customers. Instead, DDC teams quickly assessed the situation, transferred every affected customer to another electric circuit and coordinated the necessary repairs, all without a single home losing power. Most never knew anything had happened at all.
That seamless coordination between the technology at the Dispatch Center and the crews working in the field allows us to respond faster, keep you informed and minimize disruptions before they become bigger problems.
To learn more about how the Distribution Dispatch Center supports reliability in your community, visit AEPOhio.com/DDC.
