CHARLESTON, W.Va., October 28, 2012 – Appalachian Power started Friday making preparations for potential power outages that could occur Monday night into Tuesday from remnants of Hurricane Sandy.

More than 350 workers have been secured from AEP sister companies and will be moving into place on Monday. The workers will assist locally-based Appalachian Power employees should the storm cause widespread damage to electrical facilities.

Based on Sunday's forecast, the most serious threat to Appalachian Power is heavy wet snow in the high mountain areas, including the coalfield counties of southern West Virginia and far southwest Virginia. In addition, strong wind gusts could be problematic for many areas within Appalachian’s service area.

“This weather combination will likely cause a major power outage event for us and we are preparing by staging crews in various areas in West Virginia and Virginia. At the same time, we encourage customers to have a plan in place for coping with extended, storm-related power outages,” said Phil Wright, vice president Distribution Operations.

Customers should prepare an emergency kit with flashlights and fresh batteries; battery-powered radios or televisions; candles, matches, or lighters; water for drinking and cooking; portable heater (oil or gas); camping equipment (sleeping bags, camp stoves, lanterns); canned goods and a manual can opener and manufacturers' instructions for power-operated equipment such as the garage door. Customers should charge cell phones and have  a mobile charger for their automobiles. More information can be found on AppalachianPower.com in the section “Outages & Problems.”

Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers  in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.

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