CHARLESTON, WVa., May 22, 2025 – Innovative technology and preventative tree maintenance helped reduce the number of customer outages after severe weather tore through most of Appalachian Power’s service area in mid-May.
Wind gusts reached 50 mph in some areas, downing trees and damaging company infrastructure, leading to a peak of 38,000 customers losing power. However, the impact would have been more significant if not for the implementation of the APCo’s Distribution Automation Circuit Reconfiguration (DACR) technology.
DACR technology prevents customer service interruptions by pinpointing where outages occur and automatically switches electric service to a new line.
Last weekend, hundreds of customers benefited from DACR technology.
“Certain things, such as a windstorm, are out of our control,” said Jeff Maynor, APCo’s director of reliability. “One thing we are doing to combat this is investing in the technology that will lessen the impact on our customers.”
Since 2018, APCo has installed the DACR technology on nearly 200 electric circuits throughout West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.
“The technology allows the system to detect an outage condition and switch customers to another feed while equipment is being repaired. This process is automatic for customers and is just one of the many ways we are working to improve reliability on our electric grid.”
In addition, Appalachian Power is seeing favorable results from its vegetation management program and is committed to effectively maintaining its nearly 60,000 miles of power line rights-of-way. As favorable temperatures return, the company is ramping up efforts to remove trees and brush that could cause power outages.
“Trees are the leading cause of power outages year-round, whether due to strong winds toppling them into our lines or ice accumulation on branches,” said Jay Singleton, region support manager who oversees the forestry group.
“We recognize that our customers depend on us for reliable service, so we seize every opportunity to enhance our tree trimming efforts.”
The company uses a strategic approach to target areas with reliability concerns and has allocated additional resources to the vegetation management program. In addition to trimming within company rights-of-way, Appalachian Power is proactively addressing specific areas outside these zones that pose risks to its infrastructure.
“Our foresters analyze company data and outage history to identify high-risk areas. With our customers’ cooperation, we can effectively remove diseased or damaged trees outside our right-of-way, safeguarding our system against potential damage,” stated Singleton.
Each year, Appalachian Power routinely maintains over 6,000 miles of right-of-way. The company's goal is to trim its right-of-way efficiently and safely. To achieve this objective, a variety of tools and equipment are employed. In areas with limited access and high tree density, the forestry team may use helicopters equipped with aerial saws. In other locations, remote mowers and mechanical trimmers are deployed to ensure thorough clearing.
Appalachian Power continues to develop and employ the technology and efficiencies to improve service reliability and the resilience of its electric infrastructure.
Customers can visit AppalachianPower.com to learn about other ways APCo is investing in improving customer reliability through a variety of proactive measures.
Appalachian Power has 1.1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is part of American Electric Power, which is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions. AEP’s approximately 16,000 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 225,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.6 million customers in 11 states. AEP is also one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 29,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity.