A well-maintained right-of-way increases system reliability and is necessary to keep our employees, members and community safe.
Trees and Power Lines: Our Focused Solution
For the safety of our members, our communities and our employees, Jackson Electric Cooperative is ramping up our vegetation management efforts. This program has two parts:
Preventative Maintenance: Work completed by our vegetation crews in a general area. Typically, this type of maintenance allows for more productivity because crews can trim an entire line to meet industry and system standards.
Service Tickets: Work completed by our vegetation crews in response to a request from our line crews or you, our member-owners. These may also involve preventative trimming, but they are for a specific location.
We are trimming more than ever. Jackson Electric Cooperative is ramping up vegetation management efforts and following industry standards for right-of-way maintenance to provide a safe and reliable flow of power and prevent outages.
Why we Trim Trees
Trees are beautiful and help our environment, but they are also good conductors of electricity. Tree branches growing into power lines are a fire danger and one of the major causes of outages. To prevent this, Jackson Electric Cooperative works to maintain the right-of-way for you, our member-owners.
Good vegetation management allows our line crews to see and access lines, spot possible issues, and restore power faster. Lines that are not properly trimmed, cleared and maintained make their job more difficult and dangerous, and pose a threat to our communities.
We can't control the weather, but a good vegetation management program can help reduce outages. From small limbs that cause "blinks" to big branches that can bring down lines and poles, vegetation management is a vital part of safe and reliable power delivery system.
Jackson Electric Co-op's Responsibility
Preventative maintenance, as well as responding to tree trim requests, is part of our commitment to you, our member-owners. Our vegetation crews clear and trim trees in the right-of-way throughout the system at no extra cost to our members. Crews are guided by licensed arborists who determine the best practices for the trees and for our system.
We will trim, prune and remove trees that encroach on our distribution system. Licensed arborists will determine the best method for both the tree and system reliability.
The Member's Responsibility
There are a few ways you can help with right-of-way maintenance. Together, we can make sure our right-of-ways are clear and we stay safe.
Please never trim your own trees that are close to or touching electric wires. Contact us or submit a tree trim request and our crews will safely trim your trees.
Planting
Planting trees and landscaping is an investment. Proper planning and tree selection will protect your landscape and keep it beautiful for years to come. Here are a few ways to make sure your landscaping is compatible with safe power delivery:
- If you are planning a landscaping project, always call 811 before you dig.
- Inspect your area before you plant. Make sure to leave at least 10 feet between vegetation and any electric equipment - including pad-mount transformers, also known as the "big green box."
- Never plant trees under power lines.
Trimming and Safety
- Remember, branches near or in power lines can be dangerous.
- If your tree has grown into the power lines, please do not trim yourself. Please let us know by calling your respective office Jackson 361-771-4400 or Matagorda 979-245-3029
- Never climb a tree that is near or contacting a power line.
Planting near the "Green Box"
Some members may have underground electric service, meaning the power lines that serve your home are buried instead of being attached to poles overhead. Therefore, equipment, including transformers, that would normally be mounted near the top of the pole are mounted at ground-level on concrete pads inside locking metal cabinets.
In order to provide safe, reliable electric service, our linemen need 10 feet of clearance in front (the side with the locking panel) of this equipment so they can safely open it, and five feet on each side to allow access. Some of the larger equipment requires 10 feet of clearance, front and back.
It is very important that you not plant shrubs or other vegetation, build or place structures, locked gates, or other obstructions around this equipment that might hide or block access to it. When our crews have to clear obstructions just to gain access, it makes maintenance work more difficult – even hazardous – and can increase outage restoration times for you and your neighbors.
Keeping landscape plantings at a safe distance helps us preserve the beauty of your landscape while providing reliable electric service.