The Kindest Cut Of All

Power outages can occur when branches break and fall across lines, or when trees tumble onto them. When strong winds blow, limbs growing too close to lines can sway and touch wires, causing momentary “blinks” in power that can damage computers and other sensitive electronic equipment.

Your electric co-op’s tree-trimming crews wage a never-ending war to clear growth away from power lines and reduce outages and safety risks. Crews look for foliage growing under lines, overhanging branches, and leaning or other types of “danger” trees that could pull down a power line if they fall.

Typically, crews will not remove trees. Instead, they carefully trim away errant limbs and branches that are too close to power lines.

Your co-op respects your property and decides how to trim trees based on the amount of clearance needed around wires, voltage coursing through lines, the tree’s growth rate, and how frequently trimming is performed along the line. —NRECA Cooperative Research Network