PPL Electric Utilities said last week that the company is making plans to prevent more power outages across our region.

The company is installing new equipment and trimming more trees around power lines, said Gregory N. Dudkin, the utility's president."During 2013, the number of power outages was down by 9 percent compared to the average of the previous three years," Dudkin added.The average duration of power outages was down by 11 percent by the same comparison.PPL Electric Utilities' has made ongoing investments to make electric service more reliable, which include deploying smart grid technology and remote controlled switches. PPL is also installing smart grid devices that allow operators to quickly isolate trouble and reroute power during storms and outages.The company is installing bigger, taller poles with thicker wires to help prevent storm damage, as well as more lightning protection and animal guards.The utility company will also replace aging equipment and removing trees from near power lines.The company has plans to upgrade power lines between the Weissport (Franklin Township) and Ashfield (East Penn Township) substations for improved reliability for about 3,200 Carbon County customers this year.Two aging circuits serving Schuylkill County will be replaced.That includes replacing insulators, cross arms and other equipment to improve service reliability and help limit the duration of any power outages for more than 4,000 customers in Cass, Frailey, Hegins and Reilly townships and Tremont.Workers will also be upgrading a power line between Meadow Drive and Deiberts Valley Road in South Manheim Township, Schuylkill County, improving electric service for about 235 customers.About 1,400 customers in Kidder Township inCarbon County andTobyhanna Township in Monroe County will be transferred from the company's Lake Harmony substation to the Jack Frost substation to improve their service reliability.The company will be installing 2.5 miles of new line along Route 209 to help meet growing demand for electricity and to improve reliability for about 1,700 customers in the Nesquehoning and Summit Hill areas.