Clearing the path to reliability

Mem­bers depend on York Elec­tric to deliv­er safe, reli­able pow­er to their homes and busi­ness­es. An impor­tant part of meet­ing that respon­si­bil­i­ty is reg­u­lar­ly trim­ming trees in our rights-of-way.

Crews will begin trim­ming in the Lesslie and Ogden areas of Rock Hill to con­tin­ue main­tain­ing our five-year right-of-way rota­tion. You might not real­ize it, but there are sev­er­al ben­e­fits to reg­u­lar tree trim­ming.

Reli­a­bil­i­ty

While many fac­tors can impact pow­er dis­rup­tions, many out­ages can be attrib­uted to over­grown veg­e­ta­tion. This is why you some­times see York Elec­tric crews or con­trac­tors out in the com­mu­ni­ty trim­ming trees near pow­er lines. Trim­ming crews have been trained and cer­ti­fied based on the lat­est indus­try stan­dards.

In fact, elec­tric util­i­ties are required to trim trees that grow too close to pow­er lines. Sched­uled trim­ming through­out the year keeps lines clear from over­grown or dead limbs that are like­ly to fall, and we are bet­ter able to pre­pare for severe weath­er events. It’s also more cost-effec­tive to under­take pre­ven­ta­tive main­te­nance than it is to make repairs after the fact.

Safe­ty

Work­ing near pow­er lines can be dan­ger­ous, and we care about your safe­ty and that of our linework­ers. For exam­ple, if trees are touch­ing pow­er lines in our mem­bers’ yards, they could cre­ate a poten­tial haz­ard to the mem­bers or the pub­lic.

Any tree or branch that falls across a pow­er line cre­ates a poten­tial­ly dan­ger­ous sit­u­a­tion. A proac­tive approach lessens the chances of fall­en trees dur­ing severe weath­er events that make it more com­pli­cat­ed and dan­ger­ous for linework­ers to restore pow­er.

Afford­abil­i­ty

York Elec­tric always tries to keep costs down for our mem­bers. If trees and oth­er veg­e­ta­tion are left unchecked, they can become over­grown and expen­sive to cor­rect. A strate­gic veg­e­ta­tion man­age­ment pro­gram helps keep costs down for every­one.

You can help

There are ways you can help too. When plant­i­ng new trees, make sure they’re plant­ed a safe dis­tance from over­head pow­er lines.

• Medi­um-height trees (40 feet or small­er) should be plant­ed at least 25 ft. from pow­er lines.
• Taller trees (over 40 feet) should be plant­ed at least 50 feet from pow­er lines.
• When plant­i­ng near pad-mount­ed trans­form­ers, plant shrubs at least 10 feet from the trans­former door and 4 feet from the sides.
• Remem­ber to con­tact 811 before you begin any project that requires dig­ging.
• If you spot an over­grown tree or branch that’s dan­ger­ous­ly close to over­head lines, please let us know. Take a pic­ture and tell us the loca­tion in an email to memberservices@yorkelectric.net or call mem­ber ser­vices at (803) 684‑4248.