The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has awarded AEP/Appalachian Power its prestigious Emergency Response Award. Presented to EEI member companies twice a year, the Emergency Response Award recognizes recovery and assistance efforts by electric companies following service disruptions caused by extreme weather or other natural events.
Winners are chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process. AEP/Appalachian Power received its award for the company’s storm response effort after a weather event of historic proportions struck parts of West Virginia on the morning of Tuesday, April 2. In all, nearly 150,000 – or more than 30 percent of the company’s West Virginia customers – lost electric service, including four major medical centers and dozens of nursing and assisted living facilities.
The outages resulting from the storm happened quickly. Between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., the company went from essentially zero to 125,000 customers without power. The high winds, which began that morning, continued throughout the afternoon, resulting in additional outages. Incredibly, crews would restore service to 100,000 customers in 48 hours.
Considerable damage, primarily due to downed trees, occurred to the company’s infrastructure; total circuit outages amounted to 74, with 58 involving distribution circuits and 16 affecting transmission facilities. To restore service, crews replaced nearly 470 broken poles, 716 crossarms, 234 transformers, and 276,000 feet of wire.
After assessing the damage, the National Weather Service (NWS) called this a “historic severe weather outbreak” with ten confirmed tornados in West Virginia.
AEP/Appalachian Power was presented with the Emergency Response Award during EEI’s Board of Directors and CEO summer meeting in conjunction with EEI’s annual meeting and thought leadership forum. “America’s electric companies work around the clock to restore power following severe storms and other extreme weather events,” said EEI President and CEO Dan Brouillette. “Appalachian Power’s commitment to restoring power in a safe, efficient manner to the communities it serves following the April 2 tornados is admirable. Appalachian Power and its storm response team are extremely deserving of this well-earned recovery award.”
“We want to thank EEI for recognizing the planning and hard work on the part of our dedicated employees and business partners,” said Aaron Walker, Appalachian Power president and COO. “The damage to our facilities was extensive, but with advance notice from our meteorology team, we had adequate resources in place and were able to make the necessary repairs and get the power back on for most of our customers within 48 hours of the storm’s arrival.”