BUSINESS ASSISTANCE UPDATE
AEP has a team dedicated to helping small business customers apply for federal relief programs and make payment arrangements. Business customers can reach a solutions specialist at 1-888-710-4237 and learn more at www.aep.com/SmallBusinessAssistance.
OPERATIONS UPDATE
SWEPCO understands the critical need for reliable electric service and we are committed to the health and safety of our customers, communities and employees. We have updated our emergency response plans for the COVID-19 pandemic and don’t anticipate COVID-19 will disrupt our ability to provide electric service for our customers.
SWEPCO has received approval in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas for essential employees and contractors to be able to continue to perform critical job functions to keep the lights on. We have also worked to make sure that equipment suppliers and support industries essential to our business can continue to provide necessary equipment and services.
Multiple severe storms caused extensive damage to SWEPCO’s electric system across three states in recent weeks, leaving thousands of customers without power. Our company and contractor crews and support personnel worked through the additional pandemic-related challenges to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.
OUR SAFETY STEPS:
We have taken significant steps to keep our employees safe and healthy.
Our line workers and other employees critical to maintaining service are working in smaller teams, adjusting work schedules, practicing physical distancing, wearing facial coverings when physical distancing is not possible, monitoring themselves for symptoms and taking other prevention measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
All employees who can are working from home to help prevent the spread of the virus.
We are monitoring any coronavirus tests, diagnoses and exposures of our employees and their household members, as well as personal international travel and international visitors staying in their homes. Team members are asked to self-monitor or self-quarantine depending upon their exposure.
We have restricted outside visitors to all of our facilities (with the exception of delivery trucks), restricted all business travel that is not business critical and restricted participation in face-to-face meetings – both internal and those hosted by outside groups.
We are following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and continually reviewing our responses and the guidance we are providing to our employees.
KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE
Help utility crews stay safe and healthy while working to maintain the electric system and restore your power during outages. Please keep at least six feet of physical distance between yourself and SWEPCO field personnel as we all play a crucial role in preventing the spread of coronavirus.
SUSPENSION OF SERVICE DISCONNECTIONS
We have temporarily suspended all service disconnections for non-payment to help our customers who are currently facing financial hardships. We urge customers to try to keep their accounts current. If a customer is having trouble paying their bill, they should contact us by phone at 1-888-216-3523 or through Facebook or Twitter to discuss payment options.
SCAMS
SWEPCO customers may see more scam attempts with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic. This is a particularly vulnerable time for many people including senior citizens, low-income residents and understaffed small businesses. For more information, visit SWEPCO.com/StopScams.Attachments area