GLADE SPRING, Va., May 4, 2011 – Beginning today, employees of Appalachian Power will staff a service desk at the company’s Glade Spring, Va. Service Center for area customers rebuilding from catastrophic damage caused by last week’s tornado and severe storms.

            The temporary service desk will be open to customer inquiries from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at the Service Center located at the end of Owens Drive off Lee Highway in the Glade Highlands Industrial Park. A special call-in number has also been added for those hardest-hit customers with immediate questions: 423-578-2215.  

            “In many cases, damages to homes and businesses were so complete that we were unable to restore power at many locations,” said Appalachian’s Kingsport District Manager Isaac Webb. “The temporary service location will allow these customers a local company contact and a convenient place to pick up new meter boxes as they rebuild from the tragedy.”

            The location, however, will not be set up to handle day-to-day customer requests or billing inquiries. Customers who are already receiving service should contact the Appalachian Power Customer Solutions Center at 1-800-956-4237 with questions or use on-line services available at www.appalachianpower.com .

            The storms inflicted extensive damage to Appalachian’s transmission and distribution system and caused about 15,000 reported power outages in Virginia’s Washington and Smyth Counties early Thursday. With the assistance of hundreds of company and contract crews brought in from throughout the region, more than 200 poles were replaced and service was restored to all customers who could safely receive power by Sunday night.

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