US Plains ice storm leaves 800,000 without power

NEW YORK Dec 11 (Reuters) - More than 800,000 customers in the U.S. Central Plains remained without power Tuesday morning after ice storms Sunday and Monday damaged power lines, electric companies said.

In Oklahoma, the hardest-hit state, OGE Energy Corp's (OGE.N) Oklahoma Gas & Electric unit said the storm was the worst in the company's history, leaving more than 285,000 customers without power.

OG&E estimated it would take between seven and 10 days to restore power to all customers.

American Electric Power Co Inc's (AEP.N) Public Service Co of Oklahoma reported 252,000 customers without service.

Both utilities said they were pulling in repair crews to help with the restoration.

The weekend storm entered Oklahoma early Sunday, bringing freezing rain that caused significant ice accumulation on trees and overhead power lines. The weight of the ice pulled down tree branches and power lines, cutting power.

That system later moved across Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Other utilities with significant outages included Westar Energy Inc (WR.N) with 59,000 in Kansas, Empire District Electric Co (EDE.N) with about 58,000 in Kansas, Aquila Inc ILA.N with about 54,000 in Missouri, Great Plains Energy Inc (GXP.N) with about 27,000 in Missouri and Ameren Corp (AEE.N) with 27,000 in Missouri and 17,000 in Illinois. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino, editing by Matthew Lewis)