Over 700 without power in Mason Co.
Feb. 25—CHARLESTON — Though the recent snow and ice storms are memories for many, as of Thursday afternoon, 717 customers in Mason County were still reportedly without electricity. Across the state, there remained over 6,400 outages.
Thursday's 5 p.m. update from Appalachian Power appears below:
Power is back on for 93% of customers affected by back-to-back ice storms that hit the state Feb. 11 and 15. At the height of the weather event, 97,000 customers lost power, a number that has now dropped to 6,300. Six West Virginia counties were hit particularly hard by the ice, freezing rain, snow and cold temperatures. In Jackson, Lincoln, Mason and Putnam counties the number of customers without power in each is now under a thousand. In Cabell County, just over a thousand customers are without service. Wayne County has the most customers out at 3,900.
The decrease in outage cases is evidence line workers and others continue to make good progress, with restoration nearly complete in some areas. As service is restored in those locations, additional resources are shifted to hard hit Hamlin and Wayne.
Crews will continue to focus their work on smaller outages affecting fewer customers. As repairs are made customers may see workers pass by their property or question why a pole has been replaced yet wire has not been put up. No customer will be forgotten or overlooked. When power is restored the work is completed in stages with the goal for electricity to flow uninterrupted from one location to the next. Homes or businesses closest to a substation or source of power must have service before electricity can flow uninterrupted to customers at the end of the circuit.
Around 600 different outage cases have been identified, with repairs needed at each before power can be restored;
Of these outage cases, the vast majority of the locations involve three customers or less;
Customers still out of power should check where service comes into their homes and make sure there's no damage that would prevent their power from being restored, customers are responsible for any repairs to the meter box and other equipment attached to their homes, not including the meter itself or the line from the pole to their home;
As workers address smaller or individual outages, restoration times will be updated to provide customers a more customized estimate of when power will be restored to their homes;
Customers can see the restoration estimate for their home on the outage map, the Appalachian Power app, or through text and email alerts.
Status of restoration efforts
Most customers without power will have service restored by 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26. This is an estimate for overall completion. In isolated individual cases and outages with extensive damage, restoration may extend beyond time.
The next update is planned for 11 a.m. on Friday.
West Virginia Customer Service can be reached at 1-800-982-4237.
Information provided by Appalachian Power.
