Crew in mowing tractors work under our lines.

Maintaining clear Rights-of-Way helps Brunswick Electric prevent outages and speeds restoration after a storm. Here are some aspects of the program you might not be aware of:

1 We’re not just concerned with the width of a Right-of-Way, we also look at nearby “danger” trees, that are dead or could otherwise fall on our lines. If they do, at a minimum they will take out a circuit, and could possibly break a line or damage a pole, which will extend an outage. Removing these trees before they fall has a big impact on reliability.

Skytrim working on wooded areas. It has a 75-foot reach.

2 When a tree grows tall enough for some of its limbs to brush against a power line, it can lead to intermittent “blinks”. These momentary trips of a circuit breaker can cause things like your clocks to reset. This is why we encourage planting only low-growing trees and shrubs beside power lines.

3 We ask that members with underground lines avoid planting near our equipment. When there’s an outage our cabinets need to be easy to find, and there are other occasions when we must be able to open them as well. Having adequate clearance for our crew, tools and materials is essential. We appreciate visibility and accessibility.

4 We cut, trim and maintain our Rights-of-Way on a regular cycle, which is typical of utility industry best practices, and important because we’re in an area of high vegetative growth.

5 Please note that clearing vegetation around the above ground lines that go from transformers to individual houses is the responsibility of the homeowner.