Hart EMC Starting on Summer Line Improvement Projects

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

Hart EMC is working on two major line improvement projects this summer and one is already underway.

In Franklin County, crews have been working along Highway 328, the Gumlog Road, switching out power poles.

Hart EMC spokesman Keith Brown said crews are upgrading the power lines to accommodate more customers.

“We’re upgrading the due to growth in the area,” Brown said. “Our studies showed that area needed to be addressed in the next four years. So, we’re working on that now as well as other lines in our service territory.”

The work on Gumlog Road started last month at the intersection with Turner Road and will continue down to Poplar Springs Road.

Brown said Hart EMC is constantly looking at its service area to determine which areas need to be upgraded.

“When current goes down the line, the smaller wire can get to where customers can see a decrease in the quality of power over time,” he said. “We do studies to project growth in the future and when we see that at a certain the wire needs to be upgraded, we try to do it before customers begin to see problems.”

Highway 328 is not the only big project planned for 2016, according to Brown.

He said Hart EMC has contracted with PIKE Electric to do other work that will also be going on in Hart County and other parts of Franklin County.

“We’re going to be working in the coming months along Highway 77 in the Hart and Franklin County area as you go towards the Interstate,” Brown said. “The Gumlog area and the Highway 77 area will probably be the predominant ones this year.”

Brown said while the change out to the bigger power wires is going on, customers may experience a brief outage, but he said it will not last long.