Electricity powers the air conditioning that keeps us cool, the television that entertains us and the pot of coffee that gets us through the morning. Nobody likes being without power! That’s why we strive to prevent outages before they happen. One of the ways we do this is through right-of-way trimming.
What Happens During the Right-of-Way Trimming Process?
Each month, our right-of-way crews trim back the trees and other vegetation to ensure that they don’t interfere with power lines.
We understand the importance of vegetation in our area, which is why we only remove limbs when necessary. In order to give large utility vehicles access to power lines, we make sure there is 50 feet of clearance on both sides of a transmission line and 15 feet on either side of a distribution line.
One misconception about right-of-way trimming is that one crew does it all. In reality, there are often multiple crews that are part of the process. For example, the trimming crew cuts down the limbs, while a clean-up crew will come through a few days afterwards to clean up the discarded pieces. This explains why there are sometimes limbs left behind by the trimming crew.
There are also crews that spray non-toxic solutions to prevent new growth in our right-of-way areas. Rest assured, these sprays are not harmful to humans, pets or animals. We also only use them in transmission line rights-of-way and we give extra notification to these members.
How Does This Prevent Outages?
Right-of-way trimming helps prevent trees and limbs from falling on power lines during storms. As a result, there are fewer outages in our service area. Even when an outage does occur, this preventative maintenance allows us to better access downed lines since the areas aren’t overgrown with trees. This helps us get the lights back on faster.
When Will My Right-of-Way
Be Cleared?
We trim all of our lines once every three years. We email members before trimming and will either speak with members directly or leave a door hanger before trimming. Call us at 800.222.3107 or email info@pemc.coop to make sure we have your up-to-date email address.
Remember, clean up crews could take a few days to get to your property. To learn more about our right-of-way process, please visit pemc.coop/right-of-way.
Does Piedmont Electric Remove Trees That Could Fall On Power Lines?
• Piedmont Electric will gladly take down dead trees that are endangering our primary lines at no cost to our members. However, we do not clean up debris from these trees which will be the responsibility of the member. If you have a tree on your property that you feel may fall on primary lines, please contact us.
• Please note that we do not take down dead trees near service lines which are the lines that run from our primary lines to your home. Members would need to hire a tree service to cut these trees. If needed, Piedmont Electric will drop the service line while trees are removed at no cost to members.
• Contact us at info@pemc.coop or 800.222.3107 to have one of these services scheduled.