Eversource electric company tree crews were recently out in force on the Mohawk Trail, a popular tourist destination especially during leaf peeping season.
Driving through this tree-lined route, motorists likely saw the crews removing massive, dying and possibly drought-damaged pine trees with the help of a 140-foot crane. The work was in preparation for an electric system upgrade to ensure continued service reliability, according to the retail electricity provider.
“Trees are the number one cause of power outages in the region, so it’s important we address them through proper pruning and, when necessary, removal of hazardous trees,” said Paul Sellers, supervisor of vegetation management for Eversource in Massachusetts. “Our tree program also plays an important role in identifying and removing unsafe, drought-stressed trees along overhead power lines.”
There were almost two dozen hazardous 100-foot pines hanging over critical power lines along the Mohawk Trail, which runs from Greenfield to North Adams, he said. To protect the existing electrical infrastructure and new poles, lines and equipment that Eversource crews were installing, the trees had to come down, the company said in a news release about the work. Using a high-reaching bucket truck, tree crews first removed the treetops before lowering them with the crane to a waiting wood chipper below.
After removing old poles, Eversource crews then installed about a dozen new ones and more than 1,600 feet of new power lines. The work is part of a larger, multi-million-dollar project to improve the reliability of the electrical system to several towns in Franklin County including Greenfield, Buckland and Shelburne. A tree crew uses a crane to remove a 100-foot pine along the Mohawk Trail.
In Massachusetts alone, Eversource is investing $23 million this year to trim nearly 3,000 miles along overhead power lines and remove hazardous trees. So far, the company has completed more than two-thirds of this year’s tree work. Eversource maintains more than 11,000 miles of overhead power lines in Massachusetts, where trees account for 60 percent of all power outages.
Along with reducing the frequency of tree-related power outages, strategic and proactive tree pruning can also reduce the duration of outages when they do occur, as crews are better able to access damaged equipment during and after storms, according to Eversource,
The company, which serves most Franklin County towns, except for the extreme eastern and western flanks, transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas to 1.7 million customers throughout Massachusetts, including approximately 1.4 million electric customers in 140 communities and 300,000 gas customers in 51 communities.