Appalachian Power officials say it still looks like some Virginia customers will not see service restored for another two days as crews work to restore hundreds of outages caused by Monday’s wet snowfall. The utility says almost all customers still in the dark in Roanoke City and Roanoke and Giles Counties should see power return by tonight. In Franklin and Henry Counties, that should occur by tomorrow evening. But some Apco Bedford County customers may have to wait until Friday afternoon.

Appalachian Power Storm Response Update

Wednesday, January 5, 2022 – 11:00 a.m.

Situation

A Monday morning snow storm left up to eight inches of heavy, wet snow in parts of Appalachian Power’s Virginia service area, causing damage that left more than 45,000 customers without electric service.

Outages

Crews made great progress yesterday, making repairs at more than 400 locations and restoring service to 12,000 customers.

More than 80% of customers affected by the storm have had electric service restored.

There are still more than 400 locations at which crews must make repairs in order to restore service to the 8,600 customers currently without power.

Counties with the most storm-related outages include:

Albemarle, 2,961

Amherst, 1,640

Bedford, 1,255

Nelson, 1,216

Franklin, 609

City of Lynchburg, 331

Henry, 153

Storm Response Efforts

More than 600 employees and contractors are working to restore electric service, including nearly 100 from Ohio who joined the effort this morning.

Workers are still encountering some access issues due to refreezing.

Employees are observing COVID-19 safety precautions as they go about restoring service in order to protect themselves, our customers and the public.

Restoration Estimates

Most customers with outages related to the storm should have service restored before or by the following times:

  • Tonight: Giles, Patrick and Roanoke counties and the City of Roanoke
  • Thursday night: Franklin and Henry counties
  • Friday afternoon: Albemarle, Amherst, Bedford, Nelson counties and the City of Lynchburg

For the best available information on each specific outage, click the outage location onAppalachian Power’s Outage Map.

Weather

The weather outlook remains favorable for service restoration.