Vegetation Management Overview

Our goal is to develop solutions that balance needs.

Trees provide many benefits – environmental, economic and social. Poorly placed trees, however, can create problems.

• Trees growing near power lines can cause downed lines and power outages in storms.
• Tree branches interfering with electric lines may cause power outages.
• People who work or play in and around trees close to power lines can suffer severe injury or death from electric contact.
• Trees also can extend the length of an outage to underground utility lines if they interfere with access to equipment.

If you are concerned about a tree on your property, please contact us at 1-800-895-4999.

Utility vegetation management crews work to prevent these situations from occurring; however, severely pruned trees are unsightly at best. At worst, they become unhealthy trees with a high risk of branch or trunk failure and need to be removed. Planting the right tree in the right place can easily avoid these potential problems.

Integrated Vegetation Management

Integrated vegetation management (IVM) is a data-driven, progressive system of information gathering utilized to best plan and complete work. This system includes follow-up auditing to ensure the desired results are achieved. IVM involves the use of various types of treatment including the removing, pruning, and mowing of vegetation and the treatment of vegetation with herbicides. The overall goal of a utility IVM program is to develop compliant, site-specific, environmentally sensitive, cost-effective, and socially responsible solutions to vegetation control near electric and natural gas facilities.

Transmission Vegetation Management:

Apply to power lines that carry electricity from power plants and between substations over longer distances.

Distribution Vegetation Management:

Apply to power lines that typically run along roads and backyards that carry electricity into your home or business.

Managing Herbicide

We apply herbicides to control the root systems of woody-stemmed vegetation and to reduce the cost of future maintenance. Our contractors are to use herbicides that are registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the appropriate state regulatory agency. The herbicides are applied by licensed applicators.

Vegetation Management Overview