At AEP Ohio, we recognize that reliable electricity is essential to your daily life. Our crews have been working diligently in Northwest Columbus to inspect the power grid, specifically along the power lines that power your home or business, to make upgrades and repairs — aiming to deliver power without interruptions.
Focused on Improvement
This year, AEP Ohio launched an initiative to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages. Teams identified circuits where animals and aging infrastructure were causing recurring outages and prioritized inspections, upgrades and repairs in those areas.
“Our dedicated teams are in the field every day inspecting and repairing these circuits, ensuring we address issues before they lead to future outages,” said Ben Yates, distribution work scheduling manager at AEP Ohio. “Our goal is to complete everything by early summer 2025 so customers can benefit as we see more severe weather during the summer.”
Progress Update
So far, crews have successfully completed all inspections in your area, assessing more than:
- 250 miles of power lines
- 3,700 poles
- 51,000 pieces of equipment
Now, engineering teams are designing and planning repairs for about 7,200 pieces of equipment. Lineworkers have already begun and will continue making upgrades and repairs to equipment, including:
- 200 crossarms
- 1,300 pieces of protection cutout equipment
- 2,700 animal protection devices on our equipment
Forestry crews have also started trimming and removing trees along the 250 miles of power lines to reduce the risk of tree-related power outages.
“This is one of many ways we’re working to provide customers with safe and reliable power,” Ben said. “With the success we’ve seen so far, we’re excited to continue upon these efforts to keep the lights on.”
We appreciate your continued support and patience as we work toward a future with power without interruptions.
I’m probably a little superstitious. I’m almost afraid to say that I have lived at my present address since 1991 and I have had very few interruptions. And most of them were for just a few minutes. The only time I’ve lost power for more than a day was during the famous Ice Storm. I don’t remember what year it was. Even that was only about a day and a half. So, I’d just like to say keep up the good work. It does sound like the increase of AI will require a significant increase in the need for electricity. Hopefully we will be able to keep up with the demand. I’m glad to see that there has been more interest in nuclear power. We need energy from wherever we can get it!
I haven’t seen a crew in years. Meanwhile, trees are covering posts and lines. It’s a matter of time.
Thank you very much for this work.
So glad to hear you’re working in NW Columbus. Contracted tree trimming crews were working in my neighborhood this week. After enduring numerous outages over a 12 month period (including being part of the big outage on the coldest day of the year and even during the first half of the OSU-Michigan game) I hope this means a much improved distribution grid.