How AEP Ohio’s Customer Design Team Gets the Lights On and Keeps Them On
When you flip a switch or plug in a phone, it’s easy to forget all the work that made that electricity possible. Behind every new home, school and business across AEP Ohio’s service area is our Customer Design Team, the people who make sure power gets where it’s needed.
“We meet with customers, contractors and community leaders to figure out what they need — everything from new service to system upgrades,” said Brandon Daniels, customer design manager in Newark. “We’re with them from the very first conversation and keep working to make the electric service better even after the lights come on.”
The team’s work is both technical and personal. Designers act like project managers, bringing together the right people — from line crews and right-of-way specialists to work planners and meter teams — to make sure every job is done safely and efficiently. They align what customers want with what’s best for the power grid, helping new developments get reliable power while keeping electricity flowing smoothly for everyone.
That focus on reliability is part of AEP Ohio’s goal to provide power without interruptions. The design team helps inspect circuits, find potential weak spots and make improvements. For example, they divide circuits into smaller sections with fusing to limit the number of customers affected by potential outages. They also help install TripSaver devices, which can automatically restore power when a minor interruption occurs, reducing both outages and response time.
Protecting the environment is another important part of their job. Formal processes help designers plan projects responsibly. For example, designers secure rights-of-way that provide enough space to reduce contact with trees, plan power lines along easy-to-access routes to minimize impact and avoid locating oil-filled equipment near waterways.
“Our environmental focus applies to both new and existing equipment,” said Erik Schaas, customer design manager in Columbus. “If one of our technicians spots a damaged transformer, we act fast with our environmental and line crews to replace it and prevent future problems.”
That teamwork makes a meaningful difference. Recently in Zanesville, employees worked across departments to replace a transformer that was leaking oil near a manufacturer’s key equipment — preventing downtime and saving the customer thousands of dollars. In the same region, they added animal guards to equipment, reducing service interruptions for local customers.
Taken together, the customer design team’s work also helps save customers money. Their thorough, cost-efficient planning creates a system that is designed to work in all types of conditions and results in a durable and effective electric grid.
For Daniels and Schaas, the most rewarding part of their work is seeing the results in their own communities. “I helped deliver power to the football stadium at the high school I graduated from,” Daniels said. “My cousin was the architect. Seeing it all come together reminded me why we do what we do. It really drove home for me how essential the service is that we provide, bringing power to our families, neighbors, communities and even future generations.”
Every light across Ohio tells a story. For AEP Ohio’s Customer Design Team, those stories start long before the switch is flipped.
