CHARLESTON, W.Va., May 8, 2015 – Appalachian Power crews have restored power to most of downtown Charleston following a fire in the underground network on Thursday evening. The fire occurred around 6:30 p.m. Thursday in an underground manhole at the corner of Virginia and Hale streets.
The incident knocked out power to around 600 customers. When the fire occurred, Appalachian workers de-energized the underground electric facilities in the area to prevent any further damage. Crews then entered surrounding manholes to isolate the area and assess the extent of damage. During the night, all manholes and vaults on the affected network circuits were inspected for damages.
Additional crews from Wheeling and Roanoke were called in to help with the situation. By 4:30 a.m., a majority of customers had power restored.
“I just want to compliment the crews and contractors for all of their dedication and hard work overnight,” said Scott Chambers, a region support manager for Appalachian Power. “Once the fire was discovered, they worked immediately to protect the network. This could have been more severe and taken longer to recover.”
As of 8 a.m. Friday, around three commercial buildings were still without electric service. Chambers said power should be restored to these customers by the end of the day.
Appalachian Power has approximately 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to 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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John Shepelwich
jeshepelwich@aep.com