AEP Texas temporarily interrupted power to parts of its service area Monday afternoon in answer to a statewide emergency called by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). AEP Texas rotated the areas affected by the controlled outages so electricity users would not be without service for more than 30 to 45 minutes whenever possible.

ERCOT is appealing to customers across the region to voluntarily curtail electric usage between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, when the heat wave is expected to continue:

• Turn thermostats up
• Reduce lighting
• Avoid running non-essential electric equipment and appliances

On Monday, approximately 45,000 AEP Texas customers were affected at various times during the rotating outages. The outages affected communities throughout the company’s 97,000-square-mile service territory, which includes the cities of Abilene, San Angelo, Laredo, Corpus Christi, Victoria and the Rio Grande Valley. The temporary outages are designed to avoid critical public health and public safety facilities.
 
AEP Texas and other transmission and distribution service providers were asked to shed electric load beginning at about 4:30 p.m. because of unseasonably high temperatures and the lack of available power generation.
 
The first round of power interruptions lasted until about 5:10 p.m. when the outages were rotated to affect another group of customers. At about 6 p.m. this evening ERCOT announced that normal service could resume as the electric load leveled off. AEP Texas expected to have all customers back in service by 7 p.m. Customers who are still without power after that time are asked to call AEP Customer Service, toll-free, 1-866-223-8508.
 
ERCOT asked AEP Texas to drop approximately 100 megawatts of load as part of an emergency procedure to avoid a large-scale outage and prevent damage to the electric system. ERCOT is the independent system operator that manages the scheduling of power for 85 percent of the state’s electric grid. AEP Texas serves approximately 10 percent of the electric load within ERCOT. 
 
AEP Texas, a unit of American Electric Power, delivers electricity to 850,000 homes, businesses and industries in south and west Texas. AEP Texas provides regulated energy delivery service to consumers, regardless of which Retail Electric Provider they choose. The region headquarters is in Corpus Christi.