Lee Chappell, Director of Safety & Loss Control
10 mar 2025
One of the things I love most about our rural community is the natural beauty that surrounds us. We are fortunate to have so many trees that offer beauty, shade and a habitat for all sorts of birds and other wildlife. While we recognize and appreciate the beauty of trees, we strive to balance maintaining beautiful surroundings and ensuring a reliable power supply by keeping power lines clear in rights of way (ROW).
A right of way is the land we use to construct, maintain, replace or repair underground and overhead power lines. Rights of way enable the co-op to provide clearance from trees and other obstructions that could hinder the power line installation, maintenance or operation. ROW areas are typically on public lands or located near a business or home. Regardless, your co-op must be able to maintain the power lines above and below the ROW.
Although we are a smaller co-op, PGEC’s transmission and distribution span more than 1,300 miles. That's about half the width of the United States - much of which is covered in rural woodlands. Trees have long been a major contributing factor to power outages in areas with overhead utility lines. A major way your co-op works to achieve greater reliability is by being intentional with our tree-trimming efforts. Hence, around this time of year, the co-op steps up its efforts to ensure greater system reliability by clearing rights of way.
As part of this effort, contractors will work to control and remove vegetation that could cause power disruptions. The co-op uses a combination of spraying and trimming techniques to perform right-of-way maintenance on its transmission and distribution system.
To keep equipment free of undesired weeds and plants that may hinder our system's operational efficiency, co-op crews also treat certain areas with a chemical spray. This spray provides a cost-effective, environmentally safe, and longer-lasting means for managing trees and woody underbrush. This chemical spray is not harmful to humans or animals.
We appreciate the beauty trees afford, but we also know our community depends on us to provide reliable energy. The overall goal of our vegetation management program is to provide reliable power to our members while maintaining the beauty of our community.
Through vegetation management, we are better able to keep the power lines clear, prepare for future weather events and secure the reliability of the grid.
For more information about PGEC’s ROW efforts, visit pgec.coop/vegetation-management.
How members can help
Did you know there are ways you can help PGEC limit tree trimming? As the co-op works to balance beauty and reliability, we also ask our members to lend a hand to this effort as well. This year, the co-op plans to clear approximately 188 miles of right of way. Members can help us with clearing the trees that result in public safety and reliability issues.
By planting trees in the right place from the start based on their expected height, you can help reduce the need to trim trees near overhead power lines.
In addition to being mindful of power lines, you can practice safe planting near pad mounted transformers. If you’re planting shrubs, bushes or other vegetation near transformers, remember to plant at least 4 ft. away from the transformer sides and at least 10 ft. away from the transformer door.
Overgrown trees and branches are one of the leading causes of power outages. If you spot an overgrown tree or branch that’s dangerously close to power lines, let us know by calling 804-834-2424.