CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Aug. 2, 2008 – Power restoration efforts in the Rio Grande Valley are expected to be completed today as AEP Texas crews work remaining outages concentrated mainly in the Harlingen area.

More than 99 percent of the 205,000 customers affected by Hurricane Dolly are back in service with only small pockets of customer outages.

AEP Texas is requesting that electric customers whose power has not been restored to call the Customer Solution Center at 866-223-8508.

As a reminder, AEP Texas cannot connect power to any home or business where there is damage to the service entrance. The service entrance is the area located 1) at the meter, 2) between the meter and the home’s electrical panel, or 3) the location where AEP Texas’s cable connects to the home/business owner’s cable. Customers need to have a qualified electrician repair this damage before power can be restored to the home or business.

Eleven counties served by AEP Texas felt the effects of the storm, which knocked down nearly 700 utility poles and 55 high-power transmission structures. Twelve substations lost service and 124 circuit breakers were affected by the storm. Roughly 2,000 AEP employees and outside crews helped restore the electric system.

 “This was a tremendous effort to get customers back in service a little more than a week after the storm hit,” said Pablo Vegas, AEP Texas president and chief operating officer. “I want to thank our employees, contractors and neighboring utilities for working as a team to get the job done.”

Vegas also thanked the community for its cooperation and patience throughout the power restoration.

“We were all faced with some unique challenges and it took a collaborative effort to restore power in a safe and timely fashion,” he said. “The outpouring of support was appreciated.”