Power restoration to the remaining 25 businesses affected by last Thursday’s failure of the downtown Laredo underground network will continue throughout the day. AEP Texas is striving to restore power by the end of the day to all businesses that can receive electric service.

Today’s restoration completion estimate was pushed back from this afternoon due to difficulties electric workers are experiencing in the final stages of connecting businesses.

“Our electric system is energized and we have begun the process of restoring service,” said Charles Brower, AEP Texas director of engineering and dispatch. “We have encountered difficulties in pulling and replacing the electric cabling from some of the businesses to our network.”

Brower said the company will continue to keep business owners informed about the status of the restoration efforts throughout the day.

Crews have constructed temporary power feeds in some areas until permanent repairs can be made to portions of the underground network that were most heavily damaged.

“Our focus now is getting power restored,” said Brower. “After that, we can make permanent repairs to some sections of the underground network that sustained the most damage.”

AEP Texas has been working around the clock since the Laredo downtown underground electric network failed shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday, leaving 133 electric customers without service. Service was restored to 105 of those customers at 2 p.m. Friday.