Tommy Symns sizes up a tree along Lorton Lick Road recently.
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A new tree trimming process by Appalachian Power hopes to reduce power outages and reduce outage times.
The company hopes with the new cycle trimming process to be able to help reduce the number of outages throughout the region, Jeri Matheney, communication director for Appalachian Power, said.
The state Public Service Commission has approved the plan for cycle trimming.
“The traditional method we have been using in the past was to look at the areas with the most problems and prioritize the worst areas first before moving on to other areas. Now with the cycle trimming each power line will get attention every four years trimming one end to the other. This creates a more thorough trimming approach,” Matheney said. “A small pilot study in a Southwest Virginia service area was conducted and brought outages down by 48 percent.”
People will see more tree trimming this summer than they have probably ever seen before, Matheney said…