Trimming Trees Helps Ensure Your Power Stays On

As we move into the summer season, members will likely notice our vegetation management crews hard at work in your neighborhoods keeping the ever-growing foliage at bay and away from our power lines.

While we recognize and appreciate the crucial role trees play in providing shade, habitat, and beauty, trees and their limbs are among the most frequent causes of power outages for your cooperative. To that end, we understand the benefits offered to our members that come as a direct result of keeping them pruned and other vegetation under control.

When you come across our crews, know their efforts strategically ensure your power stays on and remains safe for everyone around.

By keeping clear the area known as a “right-of-way” — which includes the land we use to construct, maintain, replace, or repair underground and overhead power lines — it helps us provide you the safe and reliable electricity you depend on.

Our vegetation management program is designed to reduce as much contact as possible between trees and power lines, meaning more reliable power for our members. But the most important reason for keeping a clear right-of-way is member safety.

Trees growing close to power lines can sway, increasing the likelihood they’ll make contact. It gives electricity a path to the ground, creating a potentially serious fire and safety hazard.

Your cooperative’s vegetation management program provides tree pruning along rights-of-way on a 3-year rotation of areas across our service territory. However, if you notice an immediate need, you can request tree trimming online or by calling us directly. See page 10 of this issue for ways you can submit a tree trimming request.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Members can help when landscaping or planting new trees by considering power lines as you select tree species for your property. We’re fortunate that Northern Colorado has such an abundance of trees in all shapes and sizes, but choosing the right one for the right place helps ensure you and your neighbors continue to receive safe, reliable power.

We ask all members to keep a minimum of 15 feet of cleared area on either side of our primary power lines, poles, and
other electrical equipment. We also don’t recommend planting shrubs or trees on our right-of-way.

I encourage all members who are planning a landscaping project to please look up and look out for power lines before planting trees. For help selecting tree species and to determine the distance to plant from the power line right-of-way, head to our Trees & Power Lines webpage.