LISBON - American Electric Power does not plan to reopen its Glenmoor station despite efforts by county commissioners.
Commissioners met privately last week with the AEP representatives, who explained their reasons for closing the facility on Annesley Road and merging operations with the company's service center in Steubenville.
Commissioners, who had been asked to intervene by some of the 14 employees who worked out of the Glenmoor station, sent AEP a letter detailing their concerns and requesting a meeting. They were advised none of the 14 employees would lose their job as a result of the transfer to Steubenville.
"They took our letter very seriously ... and after listening to them we were assured no jobs would be lost," said Commission Chairman Mike Halleck.
Commissioners were also concerned the move to Steubenville might result in slower response time to power outages in the county, and they were assured that would not happen.
According to a Feb. 19 letter to commissioners from Selwyn Dias, vice president of distribution operations for AEP, "how we provide services to customers will not change ..."
Dias said local employees will continue to report to work from their homes, and Steubenville personnel were already responding to about 80 percent of the East Liverpool-area outage calls requiring a line crew.
"While we are committed to closing the East Liverpool facility, how we provide services will not change and no jobs will be lost," he said.
AEP intends to put the building up for sale.
