AEP Texas service crews worked through the night to restore power to customers in the Eagle Pass and Del Rio areas.  As of 11 a.m. Saturday morning, 1,100 customers in the Eagle Pass area and 400 customers in the Del Rio area still did not have power.

Customers without power are asked to turn off their electric heating and air conditioning systems, as well as any other appliances that use large amounts of electricity, such as washers and dryers.  Once power is restored, please bring temperatures in the home back to normal in phases by gradually increasing the thermostat setting.   Taking this step, as well as waiting to use other appliances, helps prevent a sudden strain on the electric system, which can result in overloading and new outages.

AEP Texas brought in crews from Laredo, Pearsall and Uvalde to respond to the outage which began Thursday evening following the loss of a transmission line running from the Del Rio to Sonora area. Approximately 30,000 customers in the Eagle Pass, Del Rio and Bracketville areas lost  power due to loss of the transmission line.   Restoration efforts were hampered as line and transformers fuses melted due to overloading as service was restored to some areas.

Most customers should see their power restored over the next few hours with completion of the restoration activities anticipated by late this afternoon.