We’re lucky to live in a state that has such a variety of beautiful trees that thrive in our climate. Despite their beauty, trees can be a hazard in our line of work if they are not properly maintained. Farmers Electric strives to balance maintaining our beautiful surroundings with ensuring reliable electricity by trimming trees that can cause outages. 

Reliability
Overgrown or dead tree limbs are particularly susceptible to breaking or being otherwise pushed into our power lines. While many factors can impact power disruptions, about half of all outages can be attributed to overgrown vegetation. 
From now through the late fall, you’ll likely come across our line crews or contractor out trimming back tree limbs to keep our lines clear. Taking a preventative maintenance approach saves us time and money when we’re working to restore power following a damaging storm. 

Safety 
Any tree or branch that falls across a power line creates a potentially dangerous situation. A proactive approach lessens the chances of fallen trees during severe weather events that make it more complicated and dangerous for lineworkers to restore power.  

Affordability 
As a co-op, Farmers Electric always strives to keep costs down for our members. If trees and other vegetation are left unchecked, they can become overgrown and expensive to correct. We have a strategic vegetation management program in place to help keep these costs down for everyone. 

Additionally, you can help, too. Follow our guidelines for planting new trees to keep them a safe distance from overhead power lines. See the graphic below for details. 

With a balanced approach, our vegetation management program is a crucial tool for ensuring service reliability, safety and affordability.