Utilities activated emergency plans Friday ahead of the expected impact of Hurricane Irene on western Massachusetts this weekend.

The Western Massachusetts Electric Co. issued a statement Friday about early actions taken in anticipation of severe weather expected throughout the region as a result of the hurricane.

"Taking steps now, ahead of the anticipated storm, is the key to an efficient response," said Peter J. Clarke, resident and chief operating officer of the utility. "Our defensive approach enables a systematic, timely and safe restoration should we need to repair our system following severe weather."

All customers also were encouraged to prepare their homes and families for a potentially prolonged service interruption.

"We need to let people know that outages in some areas could be more than a week," said Sandra Ahearn, a spokeswoman for the electric company. "This is a very widespread event # 80 miles wide in hurricane force, 400 miles wide in tropical storm force."

She said that more than 100 line crews and between 40 and 60 tree crews will be deployed throughout the service area.

"All vacations have been canceled," said Ahearn. "Everyone in WMECo has a storm assignment and will report for duty at (6 a.m.) Sunday. The priority is to cut, clear and make safe. Once that occurs, restoration can begin. Hospitals and nursing homes may need to be restored first.

"The thing to keep in mind is that even if it weakens you're still talking about sustained winds between 40 and 60 mph, gusts of 60 to 70 mph and 5 to 10 inches of rain," said Ahearn. "Very significant damage can result."

Customers who are dependent on life support have been notified by WMECo's medical alert system to seek alternate arrangements in the event that service is interrupted.

"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best," said Ahearn.

WMECo, part of Northeast Utilities, serves approximately 210,000 customers in 59 communities throughout western Massachusetts. More information is available on its website at www.wmeco.com.

National Grid also has activated its storm emergency plan, which includes calling in extra crews, sending them and materials to areas anticipated to be most severely impacted, and reaching out to customers, including those on life support, to urge them to prepare for the storm.

"We know that our customers always depend on us to restore their electricity or gas service as quickly as possible, and especially during major storms," said Ellen Smith, chief operations officer of National Grid, whose territory includes Northampton, Belchertown, Goshen, Granby and Williamsburg.

"We are hard at work preparing for whatever Irene may bring and will keep our customers informed throughout this event." Smith added, "We also want our customers to be ready for Irene and urge them to start preparing now so they will be safe during and after the storm."

Customers should check the utility's website at www.nationalgridus.com and go to "outage central." Customers also may follow National Grid on Facebook and Twitter.

And Comcast has been making preparations across the Northeast since earlier this week, according to Laura Brubaker, public relations director for the utility which provides cable television, internet and telephone services. "We are used to preparing for and managing through (inclement) weather and natural disasters and, in the event our services are impacted, we will work to restore them as quickly as it is safe to do so." Brubaker said.

"Our crews are standing by, ready to assist customers, and we are taking additional measures to ensure we are best equipped to respond to any impact that may arise from the storm, while keeping the safety of our employees a top priority," she added.

Those plans include increased staffing and adding backup generators, Brubaker said.