National Grid is working to resolve problems with electric lines that supply residents from the town of Maryland through Cobleskill, a spokesman said.
The work on the Cobleskill-Summit line began about two weeks ago and is expected to be completed by the end of July, said spokesman Patrick Stella.
Since March 2008, there have been six outages for a variety of reasons, he said. These included a December ice storm. The work is part of a five-year initiative in upstate New York that is part of a $1.5 billion improvement plan.
Company officials met with Sen. James Seward several times about the outages, Stella said, and listened to the concerns of customers in deciding to act.
"We are looking at this as a way to reduce outages," he said, as well as reduce the time it takes to restore power when outages do occur.
Most of the work will be done when the lines are live so outages are not needed, he said, though there may be times when that is not possible.
Among the improvements will be replacing insulators and installing animal guards, Stella said. The conditions of poles and transformers will also be assessed to see what needs replacing, he said.
"I am pleased that National Grid is working to remedy service issues in the Worcester/Maryland/Summit area," Seward said.
"Residents and businesses count on reliable utilities and they are essential to emergency services."
"I am hopeful that the quality of the service will improve," Seward continued, "and I encourage residents of the affected area to keep me informed if problems persist."
A couple of residents who live in the area contacted Wednesday said they were supportive of the effort.
Worcester resident Mark Vensak, who has lived in the area for about five years, said, "It's a great idea."
His service has been out so much in the past three years that he bought a generator, he said, and it should have been done years ago.
Worcester Town Supervisor Larry Anteman, who is also a local businessman, said "the company needs to keep making improvements" if it is going to maintain its system. But when problems have arisen, it has responded to them, he said.
