Power loss did not disable Athens

by Stephanie Corbin and Kim Smith
Staff Writers

Power outages caused by Tuesday night storms left some without resources for several hours yesterday.

American Electric Power Company, which provides electricity to most of Athens, reported that power outages were related to the bad weather the night before, said Greg Pauley, AEP manager of community relations.

Some customers still did not have power as of yesterday afternoon, Pauley said.

Athens Police Department did not receive any calls in regard to loss of power, APD Dispatcher Jim Mann said.

No major problems were reported on Ohio University's campus, said Ted Ferares, facilities management coordinator. But the university did experience a power loss two times yesterday.

"We didn't find the problem until this morning," Ferares said. "We resolved the problem at approximately 9:15 a.m."

The campus has two transformers for power, and all of the OU buildings are connected to one or the other, Ferares said. One transformer was hit by an electrical current, which stemmed from lightening, leaving the transformer disabled.

"Everything for the entire campus is run by those transformers," he said. "One cannot handle the load. Both need to be on."

Bentley Hall was one of the buildings that were affected by the power outages. But classes remained in session despite the power loss, said Krystal Weaver of the OU political science department.

"It was just a flash," she said. "It came back on after a second."

In Scott Quad, equipment at OU Police Department stayed on, said Tony Camechis, assistant chief. The department is connected to a generator.

"Nothing really big happened," he said. "Everything is saved in case there's a power outage.