The Economic Impacts of Deferring Electric Utility Tree Maintenance

A study was conducted to examine the economics of deferring line clearance tree pruning. The cost of pruning a tree was found to increase significantly as it grows closer to, and beyond, the conductors. The amount of biomass, and thus disposal cost, also increases with the length of time a tree is allowed to grow. Predictive models were developed for three utilities to provide a means of projecting the total impact of postponing line clearance work on crew time and costs associated with pruning trees....