As of 10 a.m., 20,000 Kentucky Power customers without electricity

UPDATE, 10:20 A.M. FRIDAY, FEB. 12, 2021

BOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – An ice storm moved through eastern Kentucky wreaking havoc on electrical facilities, causing power outages for thousands of Kentucky Power customers.

Outages peaked late Thursday morning with nearly 25,000 customers out of power. Customers in Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lawrence and Rowan counties are mostly affected.

Late Thursday night, new outages occurred in parts of Kentucky Power’s service territory leaving an additional 970 customers without power this morning.

From the storm that went through late Wednesday night to Thursday morning, more than 20,000 customers remain without power.

The current outage situation as of 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 12, 2021:

Boyd County                                                    8,850  customers

Carter County                                                  4,052  customers

Greenup County                                             2,200  customers

Lawrence County                                            2,977  customers

Letcher County                                                 217 customers

Lewis County                                                     265 customers

Knott                                                                     190 customers

Perry County                                                      281 customers

Pike County                                                        219 customers

Rowan County                                                 1,099  customers

Crews spent the first full day of restoration on Thursday addressing hazardous situations which included cutting trees and clearing access. Crews also conducted outage assessments which uncovered wide-ranging damage such as numerous broken poles and downed spans of wire. The transmission team worked on making repairs to large voltage lines and substations. Helicopters were used for damage assessment as well.  Even though, most of the day was spent on damage assessment, nearly 5,000 customers were restored by the end of the day.

With hundreds of additional personnel relocated to the counties in and around Ashland, restoration should go well.  However,  there are more than 495 individual outage cases that have to be addressed.

While many customers will be restored over the next day or so, complete restoration is expected to continue through the weekend with 95% restored by Monday evening.

Crews from Kentucky Power, company business partners and AEP sister companies from Indiana, and Ohio are assisting with restoration.

Customers can report outages and check the latest restoration information for their account anytime at kentuckypower.com/outages or by downloading the Kentucky Power mobile app at kentuckypower.com/app. The outage map is updated every 15 minutes. Restoration information is added when known. Click on “View Outage Map” to access the map on a computer, cell phone, or tablet. Customers can report outages online, on their mobile device or to our Customer Operations Center at 1-800-572-1113.

Customers also can get specific information about outages via text message and/or email by subscribing to Kentucky Power outage alerts. To sign up, please visit www.kentuckypower.com/alerts. Information also is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KentuckyPower and on Twitter at twitter.com/KentuckyPower or @KentuckyPower.

Stay away from all downed lines or sparking equipment, and keep children and pets away from fallen lines and anything the lines may touch.

For everyone’s health and safety with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, please do not approach power company personnel in the field.

UPDATE POSTED 6:15 P.M. THURSDAY, FEB. 11, 2021

BOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) — An ice and snow storm moved through eastern Kentucky wreaking havoc on electrical facilities, causing power outages for thousands of Kentucky Power customers.

Outages peaked Thursday morning with nearly 25,000 customers out of power. The storm is mostly affecting customers in Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lawrence and Rowan counties. New outages have occurred this evening in Pike and Perry counties.

Poor road conditions continue to hamper power restoration. Additional wintry weather is in the near-term weather forecast.

The current outage situation AS OF 6 P.M.:

Boyd County                      10,328 customers

Carter County                      4,735 customers

Greenup County                  2,737 customers

Lawrence County                 3,741 customers

Perry County                             530 customers

Pike County                               913 customers

Rowan County                     1,099 customers

Crews spent most of the day working on damage assessment and repairing large transmission outages. Felled trees seem to be the cause of the majority outages causing poles to break while also bringing a lot of wire down.

Until further damage assessment can take place, estimated restoration times are not available. Complete restoration is expected to be a multi-day effort.

As of Thursday morning, nearly 800 personnel are in the area. Crews from Kentucky Power, AEP sister companies and business partners make up the response team. Crews not needed in the southern part of Kentucky Power’s territory have shifted locations to help in the areas in and around Ashland.

Customers can report outages and check the latest restoration information for their account anytime at kentuckypower.com/outages or by downloading the Kentucky Power mobile app at kentuckypower.com/app. The outage map is updated every 15 minutes. Restoration information is added when known. Click on “View Outage Map” to access the map on a computer, cell phone, or tablet. Customers can report outages online, on their mobile device or to our Customer Operations Center at 1-800-572-1113.

Customers also can get specific information about outages via text message and/or email by subscribing to Kentucky Power outage alerts. To sign up, please visit www.kentuckypower.com/alerts. Information also is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KentuckyPower and on Twitter at twitter.com/KentuckyPower or @KentuckyPower.

Safety Message

Stay away from all downed lines or sparking equipment, and keep children and pets away from fallen lines and anything the lines may touch.

For everyone’s health and safety with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, please do not approach power company personnel in the field.

Boyd County has opened the Community Center (15650 KY-180, Catlettsburg) and Boyd County Road Department (12327 Anthony Drive, Ashland) for warming stations and emergency shelter for the general public.

ORIGINAL STORY POSTED AT 10:30 A.M. THURSDAY

BOYD COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – Severe wintry weather has been making its way through Kentucky Power’s territory, bringing with it freezing rain and snow. Nearly 24,000 customers in Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lawrence and Rowan counties are without power as a result.

Two shelters have been opened in Boyd County — the Community Center (15650 KY-180, Catlettsburg) and Boyd County Road Department (12327 Anthony Drive, Ashland) for warming stations and emergency shelter.

This weather front is expected to continue for several more hours and be through the area by late Thursday afternoon, likely leaving behind additional customers without power, poor road conditions and on-going chilly temperatures.

Additional winter storms are in the near-term weather forecast.

As of 10:15 a.m., the outage situation:

Boyd County                      10,328 customers

Carter County                      4,735 customers

Greenup                                3,061 customers

Lawrence                              3,396 customers

Rowan County                     1,099 customers

Hazardous road conditions will slow the restoration process in these early hours.  Crews are conducting damage assessment, responding to hazardous situations and working to restore essential services as the first step. Until further damage assessment can take place, estimated restoration times are not available. Complete restoration is expected to be a multi-day effort.

Several large transmission lines are out of service Thursday morning, causing large clusters of customers to be without power. Further, more than 240 individual outage cases have to be assessed and repaired.

Local emergency authorities are reporting several road closures due to trees and icy conditions and discourage travel unless absolutely necessary. Ice remains the biggest threat at this time which causes significant damage to Kentucky Power electrical facilities.

As of Thursday morning, nearly 800 personnel are in the area.

Crews from Kentucky Power, AEP sister companies and business partners make up the response team and were brought to staging areas to be ready to respond as quickly as possible. Additional crews will be in place later today and tomorrow.

Once the storm passes through Kentucky Power’s territory, crews not needed in some areas will shift to assist those areas that are in need of help.

Customers can report outages and check the latest restoration information for their account anytime at kentuckypower.com/outages or by downloading the Kentucky Power mobile app at kentuckypower.com/app.

The outage map is updated every 15 minutes. Restoration information is added when known. Click on “View Outage Map” to access the map on a computer, cell phone, or tablet. Customers can report outages online, on their mobile device or to our Customer Operations Center at 1-800-572-1113.

Customers also can get specific information about outages via text message and/or email by subscribing to Kentucky Power outage alerts. To sign up, please visit www.kentuckypower.com/alerts. Information also is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KentuckyPower and on Twitter at twitter.com/KentuckyPower or @KentuckyPower.

Safety Message

Stay away from all downed lines or sparking equipment, and keep children and pets away from fallen lines and anything the lines may touch.

For everyone’s health and safety with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, please do not approach power company personnel in the field.