The City of Wheeling is expressing disappointment in a planned power outage by American Electric Power scheduled for this weekend.

The outage, slated to occur between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Sunday, will impact almost the entire Elm Grove section of Wheeling. City Manager Robert Herron is concerned that very little notice of the outage was given during such a busy time of year. The length of time for this outage is extremely long as well.

“This is a large outage area with little advanced warning. It impacts many homes and businesses during the busy holiday season. It is inconsiderate and poor planning,” he said.

 Along with the holiday shopping season comes additional traffic and a concern for public safety as the traffic signals are not operational due to the outage. AEP did not coordinate with the Wheeling Police Department.

“The City understands there is work that needs to be completed and there is never a great time to be without electricity. However, better planning and more notice to AEP customers should have occurred in this case,” he said.

Other areas of the City are not supposed to be impacted by this scheduled outage.