Vegetation management supports safety, reliability, and wildfire mitigation
Your Co-op distributes electricity to over 58,000 members in a 3,038 square mile service area — about the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined! Over 5,200 miles of underground and overhead power lines carry that electricity. That’s enough line to stretch from Kalispell to Tokyo, or from coast to coast in the United States, and then back again.
About 2,000 miles of that line is overhead, supported by over 47,000 utility poles. Your Co-op works year-round to maintain those poles, the lines they carry, and the accompanying equipment, such as transformers. A significant portion of maintenance involves managing vegetation near lines.
Why do we trim trees?
- Wildfire mitigation — Tree maintenance reduces potential wildfire hazards from tree/power line conflict.
- Public safety — Tree maintenance improves safety for everyone by providing separation between lines and vegetation to reduce the risk of accidental electric shock.
- Reliability — Trees that are too close to lines can cause power outages, particularly when weather brings lightning, wind, ice or snow.
Twelve months a year, you’ll see our vegetation management crews (and contract crews) pruning, and in some cases removing, trees and incompatible vegetation from within your Co-op’s rights-of-way around overhead power lines. Our vegetation management program is a proactive approach. It uses industry best practices to provide more safety and reliability to the electric distribution system.
Chad Bessette, Vegetation Management Supervisor for the Co-op, notes, “As part of our vegetation management program, we developed and frequently update a Wildfire Mitigation Plan to protect our equipment, our members, and our communities. This plan helps us to be intentional about how we schedule vegetation management and ensure that we get to every part of the electric system in a timely fashion.”
You may see a utility forester from your Co-op walking overhead power line spans to assess nearby vegetation and determine needed work. The forester will attempt to stay within the Co-op’s rights-of-way. However, you should know that access to power lines through private property is at times necessary and is sanctioned by 69-4-103, Montana Code Annotated.
Your Co-op understands that trees and vegetation are integral to our communities and important to our members – and to us. Northwest Montana wouldn’t be the place we love without trees. That’s why our tree care experts work to find a balance between reliable power and healthy trees. We are committed to working collaboratively with our members to address any concerns regarding trees in our service area.
Tree FAQs
Here are the answers to a few questions our utility foresters are frequently asked by members:
How much will be cut from my tree?
It depends. The amount and type of pruning necessary is typically based on:
- Tree species, growth rate, structure, and health
- Wind direction
- Proximity to power lines
Is my tree a candidate for removal?
In these situations, tree removal may be preferable to pruning:
- Trees growing inside of the utility right-of-way or within 10 feet of power lines
- Tall or fast-growing species requiring frequent pruning
- Previously topped trees
- Trees with a high risk of failure (e.g., leaning, in decline, severe dieback, cracked, split, hollow, co-dominant leads)
My trees are not touching the power lines. Why do they have to be pruned?
Without pruning, they may be at risk of future contact by swaying in the wind, sagging with the weight of ice and snow, or being uprooted by storms.
What other options do I have for dealing with trees growing into power lines?
The best long-term solution is to replace them with a species that will mature to a lower height than the power lines. You can find a list of recommended trees here.
Why doesn’t the Co-op just put this power line underground?
Over half of our 5,000+ miles of power lines are underground, and we’re constantly working to replace overhead line with underground line where it’s practical. However, replacing all overhead line with underground is not financially realistic and even if money wasn’t a factor, underground line is not feasible at all locations due to the presence of wetlands, high water tables, river crossings, rocky soil conditions and other geophysical features.
