National Drought Mitigation Center
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National Drought Mitigation Center
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Eversource Energy protecting Connecticut power lines
8/30/2016 9:06:10 PM



CATEGORIES:
Business & Industry
Plants & Wildlife
AFFECTED AREAS:
Connecticut
Fairfield County, CT
Hartford County, CT
Litchfield County, CT
Middlesex County, CT
New Haven County, CT
New London County, CT
Tolland County, CT
Windham County, CT

Start Date: 6/1/2016 - End Date: 12/31/2016
Eversource Energy has its crews out looking for drought-damaged trees near the company’s distribution and transmission lines in Connecticut. Weakened trees can easily drop a branch or topple over during bad weather, disrupting power. Arborists also accompanied helicopter crews during the annual summer review of the transmission network. “The effects of a drought on tree systems are cumulative,” said Sean Redding, Eversource’s manager of vegetation management in Connecticut. “In order to prevent tree-related outages, our crews are working to identify signs trees are experiencing drought stress, such as early fall color and shedding of leaves and branches.” The company will spend $68 million in 2016 trimming more than 4,000 miles along overhead power lines and removing dangerous trees in an effort to protect “backbone lines,” or lines that service a large number of customers, within its distribution network. With drought stress in two of the last three years, trees are more susceptible to insects like the emerald ash borer. New Haven Register (Conn.), Aug. 29, 2016
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