Everett
Summertime brings with it all the great outdoor activities from gardening to picnics — but also thunderstorms. Thunderstorms, besides the lightning and thunder, often are accompanied by high winds.
When trees are fully in leaf, high winds sometimes causes tree damage. Trees and tree branches may snap off and fall on powerlines causing power outages. Though tree branches fall in winter and cause power outages, it is summertime when we experience the most damage to these lines.
During peak usage periods, power lines may stretch and sag. If tree or branch meets a line, it can cause a direct ground. This is what happened in Eastlake, Ohio, on Aug. 14, 2003.
The city of Cleveland and surrounding areas of Ohio experienced a massive power outage that affected 50 million people across the country. The blackout originated in the afternoon of Aug. 14 when overgrown trees damaged a line that caused a FirstEnergy plant in Northeast Ohio to unexpectedly shut down.
The ripple effect caused 21 plants across the country to shut down in three minutes. Parts of the eastern United States, including New York and Detroit, and portions of Canada, including Toronto and Ottawa, experienced the biggest impact.
On another occasion, January 2009, a major ice storm produced widespread power outages for more than two million people in the Midwest. Ice-laden trees and branches contributed to outages as they crashed down onto power lines causing power outages across eight states.
Since that time, rules have been established for trimming back and, if necessary, removing trees to protect power lines. Just like electrical lines are not created equal, not all trees around public utilities have the same power line clearance requirements.
Due to the differences in their voltage, for example, transmission and distribution lines have different line clearance regulations to reduce blackouts and safety concerns. In Ohio, electrical utility companies must develop a vegetation management plan and submit it to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Tree trimming is often done on municipal right of ways by the utility company; however, they also have the right to trim trees away from power lines on private property.
Utility representatives or contractors may enter property to trim any branches that are touching or are close to power lines. It is necessary to enter private property so that the reliability of the power system is maintained, and outages are avoided.
Utility companies have this right through an easement. An easement is permission for the utility to maintain its power lines on a customer’s property. Easements are filed with the county recorder’soffice, and copies are typically kept on file with the utility company.
A question I receive, besides the rights of utility companies to trim trees, is why do they trim the way they do?
To us it looks like silly willy; however, the utility companies are using pruning practices developed by an arborist. The arborist who developed this method is Dr. Alex Shigo. He has spent most of his adult life studying, lecturing, dissecting, and writing about trees.
“A tree is much more than a chunk of dead wood,” Shigo said. “Trees are alive; they live all year ‘round, not just for a short time in the summer. They work during the winter, too.”
Shigo’s pruning methods have been adopted by the International Society of Arboriculture, and he is considered a pioneer in modern arboriculture.
The powerline that services your property is called the drop line, and normally utility companies do not trim around this. When trimming around your own power lines, be extremely careful. In most cases, if branches are closer than 10 feet to the lines, it is best to hire a professional arborist certified by the ISA.
To find an arborist in Ohio refer to this website: https://ohiochapterisa.org/aws/OCISA/pt/sp/trees4ohio_find-an-arborist.
