MOUNT VERNON — Utility crew workers are out braving the cold temperatures around Knox County today, attempting to restore residential electric service to those who lost power after Tuesday’s ice storm.
American Electric Power was reporting that 1,389 customers in Mount Vernon and the surrounding area were without service as of this morning. That’s down from 6,590 which was reported Tuesday.
“That’s huge progress considering it was in the wee hours of the morning,” said Carmen Pratti-Miller, customer service representative with AEP Ohio.
Of the 1,389 customers, Fredericktown has 154 customers still without service and Gambier has 152.
“We’re restoring service around the clock,” said Pratti-Miller, who expects 90 percent restoration by 6 p.m. today and 100 percent restoration by noon Friday.
Andrea Kubik of The Energy Cooperative was reporting that 415 Knox County customers were still without service this morning. This outage is primarily located in the Apple Valley area. Of their 8,000 customers in Knox County, the number of outages is down from the 3,000 outages reported Tuesday. Kubik added that 300 Richland County customers were still without service and just 25 in Licking County.
“The majority of the crews are out right now,” said Kubik, who is expecting all residential service to be restored by midnight tonight.
Consolidated Electric Company reported 211 customers are without power this morning. They are expecting restoration in two to three days.
All Knox County schools were still closed today. Students at Mount Vernon High School should log on to Moodle for their homework assignments.
