West Virginia utility regulators have approved utility vegetation-management plans aimed at reducing power failures during destructive storms.
The plans announced Monday are for Monongahela Power Co. and Potomac Edison Co. The plans are part of a Public Service Commission of West Virginia directive in January 2013 requiring electric companies operating in the state to outline vegetation trimming programs for distribution and transmission lines.
The PSC says the plans are intended to increase electric service reliability during storms such as the derecho in 2010 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Those weather events left hundreds of thousands of West Virginians without power, resulting in millions of dollars in damage and spoiled food, not to mention customer inconvenience.
Mon Power and Potomac Edison serve 523,000 customers in 27 West Virginia counties.