CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Appalachian Power Company said the company’s meteorologists predict the approaching winter storm could dump as much as a half-inch of ice on West Virginia, potentially leading to outages and taxing repair crews.
“Ice is one of the most damaging weather events for our electric system because its weight brings down trees and power lines, and inhibits our ability to get to the damaged poles, transformers and wires,” said Phil Wright, Appalachian Power’s vice president of distribution, in a company release. “We have been monitoring the weather conditions closely and will take steps to speed restoration should outages occur.”
The company said it would use the weekend to move employees and contractors in place to respond to potential problems. The storm is forecast to hit Sunday night into Monday.
“We are doing everything we can to get to prepare for this storm so that we can get the power back on as quickly as possible in affected areas and minimize any inconveniences our customers may experience because of the weather,” Wright said.
Outages can be reported to Appalachian Power at 1-800-982-4237.