MARSHALL COUNTY, W.Va. — Appalachian Electric Power is working to improve Marshall County by cutting down some unwanted trees.
With West Virginia possessing large amounts of land and vegetation, this type of project is crucial.
“They are trimming along the power lines to get the branches out of the right of way and to improve our reliability,” AEP External Affairs Manager Erikka Storch said.
Reliability means preventing problems that could stem from storms in the future. However, because much of the work is to be completed in rural areas, household power might be affected.
“There may be slight interruptions because, obviously, if a limb falls, you can’t control where the limb will fall,” Storch said.
Storch added crews will continue to be on site if power shuts off.
AEP has subcontracted with LaRoche Aviation Services, based out of Bellaire.
The company specializes in aerial tree services, making this a perfect fit.
But why a helicopter?
“It’s just able without getting a person up in a tree and trying to deal with that limb removal, it can deal with a great amount at one time,” Storch said.
“You’re able to do so much more in a day in the air.”
And it seems to be working. Storch said that the company is currently ahead of schedule. This operation started just a few weeks ago and is projected to be done by the end of this month.
If you find yourself affected by this, be sure to report the outage through the Appalachian Power app or by appalachianpower.com.
wtov9.com
https://wtov9.com/news/local/appalachian-electric-power-ahead-of-schedule-in-tree-trimming-project-to-improve-reliability-in-marshall-county
