Routine Right of Way clearing activities will be performed to accomplish
a 4-year clearing cycle to maximize productivity, maximize benefits
from Right of Way funding, and minimize power interruptions.
During routine Right of Way maintenance, all trees within the Right
of Way will be removed wherever possible. Right of Way width for single-phase
lines is 30 feet and 40 feet for three-phase lines.
Fifteen feet of clearance between trees and energized conductors
will be maintained. In special situations, a minimum clearance of 10
feet must be obtained.
Trees around secondary or service lines will be trimmed to provide
only three feet of clearance and only during routine maintenance activities.
No trimming will be done on service lines between trimming cycles unless
limbs are exerting excessive pressure on the lines.
NAEC will not cut trees, healthy or dead, around service lines. NAEC
will have the line disconnected so that the property owner may have
the tree cut.
Trees outside of NAEC's Right of Way will not be cut unless the trees
are determined by NAEC to be endangering primary power lines or the
removal of these trees will significantly benefit the reliability of
electrical power or reduce future Right of Way clearance costs.
Property owners will be responsible for hiring qualified tree removal
personnel to safely remove trees adjacent to NAEC power line Right
of Ways.
Dead trees will be cut only if they pose a significant threat to
primary power lines. Dead trees cut to protect power lines will not
be cleaned up.
Trimming requests submitted by NAEC personnel and by customers will
be investigated and work will be done if it is warranted. Trees causing
power interruptions will be trimmed before any other tree trimming
work is performed. Trees determined not to be an immediate threat to
electrical power distribution or public safety will not be trimmed
until scheduled routine maintenance.
Trees will be trimmed in accordance with the tree trimming methods
approved by the National Arborists Association, the American National
Standards Institute, and the National Arbor Day Foundation, to promote
tree health and to reduce re-sprouting. Names for this type of pruning
include "the Shiago Method", Drop-Crotch Pruning, and Directional
Pruning.
Stumps of all trees cut by hand will be treated with an approved
herbicide to prevent re-sprouting.
Brush and debris from tree trimming and Right of Way clearing activities
will be cleaned up only in actively maintained areas. In non-maintained
areas, brush and debris will mowed during routine maintenance or hand-cut
into smaller pieces and left on site.
Brush and debris due to storms or power outages will not be cleaned
up.
Dead brush from herbicide application will not be cut down or cleaned
up.
