Work includes trimming along nearly 4,800
miles of power lines in 2022
AKRON,
Ohio, May 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio
Edison, a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:
FE) electric company, is conducting tree trimming and other
vegetation management work in communities across its 34-county
service area as part of its ongoing efforts to help enhance
electric service reliability. This year's $21.6 million tree-trimming program will help
keep power flowing to customers by helping to prevent tree-related
outages, such as those that can occur during the spring and summer
storm season.
On the ground, contractors have trimmed trees along more than
300 miles of power lines across Ohio Edison's service area since
the beginning of the year. The company's program remains on track
to complete an additional 4,400 miles of tree-trimming work by the
end of the year. Similar work is performed annually by FirstEnergy
transmission companies along high-voltage power lines in the
company's service territory.
"Trees are a leading cause of power outages, and we
complete proactive tree-trimming work each year to prevent
tree-related outages during severe weather," said Ed Shuttleworth, president of FirstEnergy's
Ohio operations. "This work,
paired with the vast upgrades we're making to our local power
system, undoubtedly helps minimize the impact of weather-related
outages to keep the power flowing safely and reliably to
customers."
Tree trimming is done on a four-year cycle. The work includes
inspecting vegetation near power lines to ensure trees are pruned
to preserve the health of the tree while also maintaining safe
clearances. Trees that present a danger or are diseased may be
removed.
This year, the work is being conducted in the following counties
and communities:
- Ashland: Ashland and Savannah
- Ashtabula: Andover and Williamsfield
- Crawford: Bucyrus
- Clark: New Carlisle and Springfield
- Columbiana:
Guilford Lake, Lisbon and Salem
- Erie: Berlin Heights, Huron and Sandusky
- Delaware: Delaware and Millcreek
- Fayette: Mount Sterling
- Geauga: Hiram and Parkman
- Greene: Fairborne
- Huron: Huron, Milan,
Monroeville and Norwalk
- Lorain: Avon, Elyria,
Grafton, Lorain, North
Ridgeville, Sheffield Lake
and South Amherst
- Madison: London
- Mahoning: Austintown, Boardman, Campbell, Canfield, Ellsworth, Hubbard, Liberty, Mineral
Ridge, New Middletown,
North Jackson, North Lima, Poland, Sebring, Struthers and Youngstown
- Marion: Kirkpatrick, Marion, Prospect and Radner
- Medina: Brunswick and Medina
- Morrow: Chesterville and Mount Gilead
- Ottawa: Port Clinton
- Portage: Aurora, Kent,
Ravenna, Ravenna Township, Rootstown Township, Streetsboro and Suffield Township
- Richland: Crestline, Galion, Johnsville, Mansfield, Olivesburg, Pavonia and
Shenandoah
- Stark: Alliance, Lexington, Massillon, Minerva, Paris and Perry
Township
- Summit: Bath Township, Greene, Copley, Coventry
Township, Downtown Akron,
East Akron, Ellet, Fairlawn, Fairlawn Heights, Highland Square,
Hudson, Lakemore, Lane
Wooster, Merriman Valley,
Northwest Akron, South Akron, Stow, Twinsburg, University of
Akron, Wallhaven and West
Akron
- Trumbull: Brookfield, Fowler, Hartford, Kinsman, Leavittsburg, Southington, Vienna and Warren
- Union: Marysville
- Wayne: Dalton
As part of its notification process, Ohio Edison works with
municipalities to inform them of tree-trimming schedules. In
addition, customers living in areas along company rights-of-way are
notified prior to vegetation management work being done.
The vegetation management work is conducted by certified
forestry experts under the company's direction, including Asplundh
Tree Expert Company, Davey Tree Expert Company, Nelson Tree Service
Inc., Penn Line Service, Townsend Tree Service and Wright Tree
Service.
In the air, helicopters equipped with aerial saws began trimming
trees in April to maintain proper clearances along hard-to-access
transmission and distribution corridors throughout Ohio Edison's
service area. The aerial saw is typically deployed along
transmission and distribution lines in areas that may be
environmentally sensitive or inaccessible to bucket trucks and
other vehicles. This method typically covers more area in a day
than a ground crew might complete in a week. The saw also
eliminates the risk of injury to workers using bucket trucks or
climbing trees to cut limbs near high voltage equipment.
Ohio Edison serves more than 1
million customers across 34 Ohio
counties. Follow Ohio Edison on Twitter @OhioEdison and
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OhioEdison.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form
one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving customers in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West
Virginia, Maryland and
New York. The company's
transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy on
Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online
at www.firstenergycorp.com.
Editor's Note: Photos of workers trimming trees near
FirstEnergy power lines are available for download on Flickr.
A video explaining and demonstrating tree-trimming work can be
found on FirstEnergy's YouTube channel.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.