More than 250 Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) employees from across the company's Ark-La-Tex service territory made the roughly 17-hour journey to Ohio to assist sister company AEP Ohio with power restoration efforts. The deployment includes lineworkers, damage assessors, vegetation management professionals and support personnel responding to severe storm damage in Columbus and surrounding communities.
"Ohio called. SWEPCO answered," said SWEPCO VP External Affairs, Amanda Nottingham, who noted mutual assistance is the hallmark of the utility industry.
AEP Ohio President & COO Marc Reitter greeting SWEPCO crews near Whitehall in the Columbus, Ohio area.
Multiple rounds of severe weather brought damaging winds, flooding and downed trees to central Ohio, causing significant damage and leaving more than 130,000 customers without power. The National Weather Service has made a preliminary determination that an EF1 tornado hit south Columbus while hurricane-force straight-line winds as high as 90-100 mph affected northern parts of the city.
SWEPCO crews brought experienced personnel and specialized equipment to help rebuild damaged infrastructure and restore power for thousands of customers affected by the storms. Crews are having to clear tree limbs and debris from power lines before they are able to restore electricity in many cases. Because of the nature of the damage, a lot of this work is happening in customers’ yards with confined working conditions and debris littering the ground. While the work is not easy, SWEPCO crews have jokingly welcomed the relief from hotter weather at home.
"We're proud of the employees who are stepping up to support communities in Ohio during this restoration effort," said Amanda Nottingham, vice president of External Affairs for SWEPCO. "Helping one another is part of who we are as an AEP family and AEP Ohio does the same for us. While many of our team members are traveling to Ohio, we continue to have crews throughout our Ark-La-Tex service territory focused on serving our customers and keeping power flowing here at home."
The deployment reflects the electric utility industry's long-standing mutual assistance network, which allows companies to share skilled workers and specialized equipment when major storms cause widespread damage. These partnerships help accelerate restoration efforts and support communities as they recover.
SWEPCO routinely participates in mutual assistance efforts across the country, providing skilled personnel when major storms and other events cause widespread power outages. When assistance is needed anywhere in SWEPCO's service territory, utilities from across the nation similarly respond to support restoration efforts. As part of that commitment, SWEPCO has carefully coordinated this deployment to ensure sufficient crews and resources remain available throughout its service territory to safely respond to outages and continue serving customers at home.