AEP plans outage to protect workers

Parts of downtown and central Findlay will have a planned power outage from 11:59 p.m. Saturday until about 7 a.m. Sunday, American Electric Power reports. The affected areas will be: •The 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 blocks of East Sandusky Street. • South Main Street. • East and West Front streets. • The 300 through 800 blocks of West Main Cross Street. • McManness Avenue. • Carnahan Avenue. • Cherry Street. AEP officials are hoping power will be restored to customers even earlier than 7 a.m. Sunday, said Karen Salajko, an AEP Ohio spokesperson. The planned outage became necessary when AEP crews, who are rebuilding and expanding a station in downtown Findlay, recently encountered a safety hazard with equipment in the station, Salajko said. That equipment must be repaired before the other work can continue, and the repairs can only be made with station equipment deenergized for worker safety, she said. "We know there's never a convenient time for a power outage, whether church services or watching March Madness (college basketball tournament) at the local bar. These days, we have so many people who work from home or online school," Salajko said. "We're always looking at all factors — first and foremost, keeping our crews safe while we're working — the number of people the outage will affect, and when. We did everything we could to limit the size and the length of the outage for our customers in downtown Findlay."