Fire at AEP substation cuts power to thousands in Corpus Christi

A fire broke out at the Rodd Field AEP substation on the south side of Corpus Christi, Texas, on a Wednesday afternoon. The blaze knocked out power to more than 14,000 AEP Texas customers. Crews worked to extinguish the fire while AEP assessed damage and restoration needs. Local school district campuses in the affected area were closed for the day and were set to reopen once power was restored. A city public library was also temporarily closed due to the outage, with residents directed to alternative branches. AEP initially estimated restoration by 7 p.m. but later revised this to midnight, noting the timeline could change pending further assessment of the damage.

Not reported.

1. Substation fires can cause widespread, prolonged outages affecting tens of thousands of customers and disrupting schools and public services.
2. Utilities should maintain clear public communication channels to update revised restoration estimates as assessments progress.
3. Contingency plans for public facilities, such as schools and libraries, should account for extended substation outages.

kztv10.com/news/local-news/massive-fire-at-south-side-electric-subs...