Trees pg 1 4-5-12
- Details
- Category: Past Issues
Connecticut Light & Power customers, after weathering Tropical Storm Irene the freak Halloween snow storm last year, will see more tree work in the near future as CL&P launches an expanded tree work program.
The company plans to spend, according to a company spokesman, $53.5 million on routine and enhanced tree trimming. That is up from the approximately $27 million spent in 2011.
The expanded tree work will be performed along 4,900 miles of the company’s utility poles and wires, an increase of 1,600 miles.
The additional tree work includes: 1,100 additional miles of routine tree trimming, and, 500 additional miles of enhanced tree trimming and tree removal.
Annually, CL&P conducts routine and enhanced tree trimming on its 17,000 miles of infrastructure. “Expanded tree work is a critical part of our plan to reduce the vulnerability of our distribution system to outages,” said Bill Quinlan, CL&P’s vice president of Emergency Preparedness. “Emergency preparedness is a top priority at CL&P, and significantly increasing our tree-trimming program is one way we’re demonstrating that commitment to our customers. We’ll be working closely with our municipal partners to coordinate our efforts.”
CL&P hopes to have the work done by December. In addition to municipal leaders, the company said property owners are notified by mail and are asked to respond within 15 days before routine work begins..
Quinlan said the criteria for identifying areas where increased tree work is needed to improve system resiliency includes: Electrical circuits with poor performance during the last three years; major segments of circuits with a large number of customers; sections of circuits where enhanced tree trimming has not been performed in the past
Specifications for routine tree trimming include: 8-foot side clearance, 10-foot clearance below wires and 15-foot clearance over wires; on certain main lines, limbs above the wires may be removed
Specs for enhanced tree trimming include: an 8-foot clearance zone from either side of the utility poles and wires, from the ground up, including: All overhanging limbs, tall brush and small trees within the clearance zone, dead or diseased trees with the potential to cause problems.
Consent forms and details about enhanced tree trimming will be delivered to each property owner in advance of any work performed. Property owner consent is required in writing.
CL&P arborists have begun reaching out to municipal leaders to review tree-trimming plans and coordinate them with local efforts.
In addition CL&P said they have begun hiring about 100 more contractor tree crews to perform the expanded tree work. The two primary contractors doing the work will be Asplundh Tree Expert Co. and Lewis Tree Service, Inc. Contractors will notify and work directly with property owners on behalf of CL&P, their vehicles will have CL&P signage. Debris generated from the work will be removed and property owners may have wood chips or cut wood at no cost.