Thousands of power outages were reported across Southeast Ohio Friday afternoon due to a broken high-voltage power line on Route 13 outside of Chauncey.
The high-voltage power line connects to an AEP Ohio station that supplies power to homes and buildings across Athens County, Deanna Gilliland, communications consultant for AEP Ohio, said.
AEP Ohio estimated that the power will return by 9 a.m. on Saturday according to the company’s Twitter account. An automated system originally reported that the outage would be fixed by 6 p.m., but AEP Ohio rescinded that estimation after crews were able to assess the damages.
As of 8 p.m., 16,028 households are affected by the outage, according to AEP Ohio’s outage map.
People can sign up for text alerts specific to their address for instant updates here.
Ohio University is within the service area out of power. The university sent text messages to students explaining the power outage and a link to its alert website for more updates as they come.
The residence halls at Ohio University all lost power. The campus WiFi is still working for students in the midst of the widespread power outage. However, students who use Spectrum received emails that said their internet service would be down until 4:30 pm.
All classes at the university were also cancelled for the rest of the day.
For students who eat at dining halls, Nelson Court and Boyd Hall will open as scheduled; however all other dining venues will be open as the power is restored.
Jack Pepper, administrator for the Athens City-County Health Department, said the health department has backup generators for COVID-19 vaccines in deep freezers in case of a power outage.
