Power was out to the Arena District and Nationwide Arena Tuesday afternoon hours before the Blue Jackets took on the Anaheim Ducks.
AEP Ohio estimates that power will be restored at 6 p.m., 30 minutes before the arena is scheduled to drop the disc.
The GATS said backup power is running chillers under the ice, but the outage is affecting remaining operations at the arena.
The National Hockey League has decided that every team in the 32-team league will play tonight, with games starting from 6pm to 11pm on the West Coast. It is marketed as Frozen Frenzy.
An underground cable feeding power to the Arena District failed at 1:06 p.m., causing a power outage, AEP said.
The company said that to isolate the failed piece of the underground power line, crews are entering several underground vaults containing equipment that provides electricity to the area.
AEP said this work is necessary to safely restore power. The crew expects this step to take about two and a half hours.
The company said crews are on scene and working to redirect customers to another power source while repairs are made.
The outage affects an area roughly bounded by Neal Street to the west, Vine Street to the north, Third Street to the east, and Long Street to the south, according to AEP. Huntington Park and Lower.com Field were not affected by the outage.
The Dispatch has reached out to the league and the club for further details.
Dispatch sports reporter Brian Hedger contributed to this report.
@BizMarkWilliams
“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”