CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – AEP Texas completed some temporary repairs to its damaged high voltage transmission line south of Corpus Christi this afternoon to lessen the potential for a significant outage in the Rio Grande Valley.

A major transmission line failure outside Corpus Christi on Tuesday created the potential for the outage if additional transmission failures or generation outages occurred.

Gonzalo Sandoval, director of Transmission Services for AEP, said temporary repairs were completed along a four-mile span of transmission line 19 miles south of Corpus Christi. He said permanent repairs will be made to the line after storms pass through the area and milder weather reduces the electrical system demand.

“Permanent repairs will take an estimated three to five days to complete and there was concern that forecasted severe weather could place our remaining transmission lines at risk,” Sandoval said. “The temporary measure that placed the line back in service today will reduce this risk somewhat until permanent repairs can be made.” 

AEP Texas will issue updates as new information becomes available.

AEP Texas, a unit of American Electric Power, delivers electricity to 900,000 homes, businesses and industries in south and west Texas. AEP Texas provides regulated energy delivery service to consumers, regardless of which Retail Electric Provider they choose. The region headquarters is in Corpus Christi.