Kentucky Power reduces outages by 70 percent through tree trimming program

An aggressive plan to trim trees around power lines by Kentucky Power has resulted in a reduction of power outages from fallen trees and branches by 70 percent over seven years.

Customers experienced 2,250 outages in 2010 caused by trees within the right of way contacting overhead powerlines. In 2017, that number fell to just 660. This is in direct relation to an increase in spending on vegetation management. Kentucky Power has cleared 9,853 miles of overhead lines in eastern Kentucky since 2010.

“Kentucky Power has made significant progress in removing vegetation from within the rights-of-way to improve reliability for our customers,” Greg Bell, Kentucky Power’s region support manager, said. “There are more opportunities in front of us with our 5-year trimming cycle.”

Kentucky Power has made such progress that it can now reduce vegetation management spending to save customers money. Annual spending will drop from $27 million in 2017 to about $21.5 million in 2018.

“We are proud of this achievement,” Bell said. “But we are far from done. We remain focused on widening opportunities, dead tree abatement and removal of overhanging branches.”

The utilities’ takes a proactive approach to trimming as opposed to a reactive approach. So instead of trimming where necessary, they trim along every mile of the power lines over a five-year cycle. Forestry contractors Asplundh Tree Expert Co., Nelson Tree Service, Wright Tree Service, and Davey Resource Group all supported clearing efforts.

Kentucky Power provides electric service to about 168,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties.