AEP: Some Columbus-area customers won't get power until 11 pm; Lancaster until 4 pm Wed.

AEP Ohio reports that some 2,000 customers in Columbus, Lancaster and elsewhere remained without power late Tuesday afternoon from powerful thunderstorms that roared through central Ohio on Monday — and some of those customers weren't expected to get their power back for another 24 hours.

At the worst of the storm damage, AEP had reported more than 21,000 customers without power in central and southeast Ohio. But crews worked through the night into Tuesday working to restore power.

The estimated electricity restoration time for affected customers in the northeast and southeast Columbus-area is 11 p.m. Tuesday, AEP reported on its Twitter account.

But customers in the Lancaster area without power are not expected to have their power back until 4 p.m. Wednesday, the utility said.

The latest AEP power outage map can be found here.

How does AEP handle power outages? Who gets power back first?

AEP has a link on its website to address frequently asked questions about how it handles power outages: https://www.aepohio.com/outages/faq.

Is more bad weather that can cause outages forecast?

The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, says that there is a low probability of widespread storms Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

However, the NWS' Hazardous Weather Outlook on Tuesday afternoon warns that some severe thunderstorms are possible Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night. "Damaging winds and large hail will be the primary threats," the weather service reports, but warns "a tornado is also possible."

On Wednesday the heat index — the combination of heat and humidity or what it feels like outside — will be around 100 degrees, increasing to between 100 and 105 degrees Thursday, and more than 105 degrees on Friday as a heat wave moves into central Ohio with forecasted high temperatures in the 90s.

Electricity usage for air conditioning systems and fans to cool off will likely spike by the end of this week, causing a heavy demand on AEP and other power companies in Ohio and elsewhere. Such heat dome situations can cause electrical system equipment to fail in some locations, causing brownouts.

AEP on Tuesday issued some tips to help customers to prepare for high temperatures this week.

Why does AEP have power problems when it's raising rates?

AEP Ohio substantially raised rates on its approximately 1.5 million customers on June 1 due to "higher generation supply prices" for power the utility must purchase at auction that are being passed along dollar-for-dollar and because of increased energy use in the summer.

The utility's electric rate rose 7.49 cents to 11.84478 cents per kilowatt hour.

The average residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy each month is paying about 28% more, going from around $155 to $198, the power company said on its website. Those rates are in effect until May 2024.

AEP Ohio rate hike kicks in June 1: What it means to your electric bill

The average electricity rate across the United States is 16.11 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to energybot.com, with Hawaii residents pay the nation's highest average rate at 43,.18 cents per kilowatt hour.

In addition to the June 1 increase, AEP is also asking the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio for a $2.2 billion rate increase for its Electric Security Plan to boost system reliability. AEP is blaming the increase, which would go into effect in June 2024 and run through 2030, on Ohio law requiring competitive auction pricing for electricity.

AEP has come under criticism from the Ohio Consumers' Counsel and others for the rate increase proposal, which comes in the wake of past controversies involving the Columbus-based utility.

Does AEP cause power outages?

In an extremely rare and unusual move in June 2022, AEP intentionally cut off power to more than 150,000 Columbus-area residents, largely in poorer and minority neighborhoods, in order to prevent a larger, more expansive outage to its system as a result of issues caused by storms. During an investigation into the action that came later, AEP officials said they had 5 minutes to make the decision on whether to cut off power to some customers to save the larger system after being warned by the operator of the grid network AEP is on.

Did AEP benefit from the Ohio House Bill 6 scandal?

AEP has been criticized for how it benefitted from the passage of controversial Ohio House Bill 6 — which led to the criminal conviction of former Ohio Republican House Speaker Larry Householder, who was sentenced in June to 20 years in prison in one of the largest corruption cases in Ohio history. The utility got a six-year-plus extension through 2030 of a monthly surcharge of up to $1.50 on Ohio electricity customers under the HB 6 legislation. The fee generates about $50 million a year to subsidize a pair of old coal-burning power plants AEP owns in a consortium with other utilities.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Power outages for some AEP customers from Mon. storms may go til Wed.