News Releases

You may see patrol vehicles in the Longview, Texas and Shreveport, La. areas as we work to strengthen the grid. 

SWEPCO donated pallets of food to help Longview, Texas and Texarkana residents.

Crews will continue to work until power is restored to all customers.

Restoration efforts are now concentrated in the Natchitoches service territory, where 6,403 customers remain without power.

Crews Face Icy Roads and Road Closures Enroute to Damaged Areas

Improved weather conditions continue to aid ongoing restoration. Morning travel will be slow and slick due to overnight freezing. Due to significant damage, SWEPCO has shifted major resources to the Natchitoches area. Treat all downed power lines as energized and dangerous. Stay at least 10 feet away and keep children and pets indoors. Now is the time for customers awaiting power restoration to determine whether their home can receive power.

SWEPCO has activated drone teams and helicopters to assess damage to power lines across the Louisiana and east Texas service area. This technology provides recovery teams with a faster and safer way to find damaged lines in heavily wooded areas. 

Warmer weather is expected tomorrow, which will aid ongoing restoration. To accelerate assessments, helicopter and drone patrols have been deployed from Marshall, Texas and Natchitoches, La. As restoration is completed, resources are being relocated to other impacted areas still without power. Treat all downed power lines as energized and dangerous. Stay at least 10 feet away and keep children and pets indoors. Now is the time for customers awaiting power restoration to determine whether their home can receive power.

Winter Storm Fern has moved through the region, leaving behind record-low temperatures and several inches of ice across the Ark-La-Tex. Restoration times have been established for impacted areas. As restoration is completed, resources are being relocated to other impacted areas still without power. SWEPCO is using helicopters and drones to help quickly access hard-to-reach areas. Now is the time for customers to determine whether their home can receive power.

Winter Storm Fern has left about 63,000 SWEPCO customers without power, with the heaviest impacts in Louisiana and Texas as falling ice-covered trees continue to cause new outages. Transmission infrastructure and power plants remain stable, and crews have already restored more than 100 major breakers while beginning daylight damage assessments across the hardest hit areas. SWEPCO has a strong restoration plan in place, with growing crews from across the region working around the clock in challenging conditions to safely restore power and support critical facilities.