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NSTAR Trims Trees To Improve Service Reliability

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 October 2006, 12:00 CDT

NSTAR tree-care professionals will be working in 35 Eastern Massachusetts communities during the fourth quarter of this year as part of the company's commitment to providing reliable electric service to customers. The annual maintenance program, recognized for its effectiveness by local and national environmental organizations, helps NSTAR to reduce the frequency of tree-related power outages while maintaining the many benefits of community trees.

"Trees are one of the top causes of power outages, so it's important that we address them through proper trimming and maintenance," said NSTAR Senior Arborist Paul Sellers. "And because we recognize the esthetic and environmental benefits of trees, we do our work with the utmost care for their long-term health." Sellers is one of three arborists employed by NSTAR to oversee its tree-maintenance programs.

Because of its comprehensive tree-maintenance program, NSTAR has been named a Tree Line USA Utility by the National Arbor Day Foundation for six consecutive years and has been recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Resources. NSTAR's program combines pre-planning by certified arborists and foresters with proactive community involvement, and utilizes natural pruning that replaces the outdated line-clearing practice of topping trees. Natural pruning trains trees to grow around wires and retains more of their natural form.

NSTAR removes all debris from areas where scheduled trimming has been done and will leave larger branches for firewood at the request of homeowners. During storms however, when emergency tree clearing and trimming are often necessary, property owners are responsible for the cleanup.

"Fall is an especially good time to trim trees, before winter storms arrive," added Sellers. "When a storm hits the area, accessing damaged equipment and restoring power as safely and quickly as possible are the top priorities of tree and electrical crews. So it's best to proactively trim to minimize the amount of emergency work that's needed later."

Customers are responsible for tree maintenance on their own property, including keeping tree branches away from the wires that connect their homes and businesses to the main utility wires on the street. NSTAR strongly recommends contacting a professional tree service to perform this work. And, as always, the company reminds customers that they should call local emergency officials if they see a downed wire.

NSTAR transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, including over one million electric customers in 81 communities and nearly 300,000 gas customers in 51 communities. For more information, visit www.nstaronline.com.

Source: Business Wire

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