AES Indiana, a subsidiary of The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES), is continuing to manage its storm response plan and focus on a multi-day restoration effort across Central Indiana where more than 81,000 customers were affected by yesterday’s severe storm. AES Indiana crews and contractors worked overnight and made significant progress. As of 1:00 PM, approximately 41,500 customers remain without power.
AES Indiana has brought in additional crews and is receiving support from neighboring utilities in Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee. Crews continue to work through the significant tree damage to power lines and equipment. However, with approximately 2,600 incidents, the severity of the damage caused by yesterday’s high winds, fallen trees and downed power lines has pushed this to a multi-day restoration effort. Additionally, the weekend forecast from the National Weather Service places the AES Indiana service territory under a slight severe storm risk later today, primarily in the 5:00-10:00 PM timeframe. All hazards are possible, but damaging winds will be the primary threat.
AES Indiana reminds customers that we always work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Our power restoration process is designed to address emergency situations first and then to restore power to as many customers as possible.
Customers experiencing extended outage durations are urged to have an emergency back-up plan in place. Customers can find safety and outage tips by going to aesindiana.com/safety-tips. Social media will be used to update customers throughout this restoration efforts process. Additionally, updates will be made to aesindiana.com/storm-updates.
Power-specific tips: During an outage, turn off electrical appliances and unplug major equipment, including air conditioning units, computers and televisions. Power sometimes comes back in surges, which can damage electronics. Your circuits could overload when power returns if all your electronics are still on and plugged in. Leave one light on to indicate that power has been restored. Wait a few minutes then turn on other appliances and equipment one at a time.