Ohio Edison Invests Nearly $22 Million in Tree Trimming Efforts to Reinforce Electric System During Severe Weather

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May 03, 2022, 13:49 ET

Work includes trimming along nearly 4,800 miles of power lines in 2022

AKRON, Ohio, May 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) electric company, is conducting tree trimming and other vegetation management work in communities across its 34-county service area as part of its ongoing efforts to help enhance electric service reliability. This year's $21.6 million tree-trimming program will help keep power flowing to customers by helping to prevent tree-related outages, such as those that can occur during the spring and summer storm season.

On the ground, contractors have trimmed trees along more than 300 miles of power lines across Ohio Edison's service area since the beginning of the year. The company's program remains on track to complete an additional 4,400 miles of tree-trimming work by the end of the year. Similar work is performed annually by FirstEnergy transmission companies along high-voltage power lines in the company's service territory.

"Trees are a leading cause of power outages, and we complete proactive tree-trimming work each year to prevent tree-related outages during severe weather," said Ed Shuttleworth, president of FirstEnergy's Ohio operations. "This work, paired with the vast upgrades we're making to our local power system, undoubtedly helps minimize the impact of weather-related outages to keep the power flowing safely and reliably to customers."

Tree trimming is done on a four-year cycle. The work includes inspecting vegetation near power lines to ensure trees are pruned to preserve the health of the tree while also maintaining safe clearances. Trees that present a danger or are diseased may be removed.

This year, the work is being conducted in the following counties and communities:

Ashland: Ashland and Savannah
Ashtabula: Andover and Williamsfield
Crawford: Bucyrus
Clark: New Carlisle and Springfield
Columbiana: Guilford Lake, Lisbon and Salem
Erie: Berlin Heights, Huron and Sandusky
Delaware: Delaware and Millcreek
Fayette: Mount Sterling
Geauga: Hiram and Parkman
Greene: Fairborne
Huron: Huron, Milan, Monroeville and Norwalk
Lorain: Avon, Elyria, Grafton, Lorain, North Ridgeville, Sheffield Lake and South Amherst
Madison: London
Mahoning: Austintown, Boardman, Campbell, Canfield, Ellsworth, Hubbard, Liberty, Mineral Ridge, New Middletown, North Jackson, North Lima, Poland, Sebring, Struthers and Youngstown
Marion: Kirkpatrick, Marion, Prospect and Radner
Medina: Brunswick and Medina
Morrow: Chesterville and Mount Gilead
Ottawa: Port Clinton
Portage: Aurora, Kent, Ravenna, Ravenna Township, Rootstown Township, Streetsboro and Suffield Township
Richland: Crestline, Galion, Johnsville, Mansfield, Olivesburg, Pavonia and Shenandoah
Stark: Alliance, Lexington, Massillon, Minerva, Paris and Perry Township
Summit: Bath Township, Greene, Copley, Coventry Township, Downtown Akron, East Akron, Ellet, Fairlawn, Fairlawn Heights, Highland Square, Hudson, Lakemore, Lane Wooster, Merriman Valley, Northwest Akron, South Akron, Stow, Twinsburg, University of Akron, Wallhaven and West Akron
Trumbull: Brookfield, Fowler, Hartford, Kinsman, Leavittsburg, Southington, Vienna and Warren
Union: Marysville
Wayne: Dalton

As part of its notification process, Ohio Edison works with municipalities to inform them of tree-trimming schedules. In addition, customers living in areas along company rights-of-way are notified prior to vegetation management work being done.

The vegetation management work is conducted by certified forestry experts under the company's direction, including Asplundh Tree Expert Company, Davey Tree Expert Company, Nelson Tree Service Inc., Penn Line Service, Townsend Tree Service and Wright Tree Service.

In the air, helicopters equipped with aerial saws began trimming trees in April to maintain proper clearances along hard-to-access transmission and distribution corridors throughout Ohio Edison's service area. The aerial saw is typically deployed along transmission and distribution lines in areas that may be environmentally sensitive or inaccessible to bucket trucks and other vehicles. This method typically covers more area in a day than a ground crew might complete in a week. The saw also eliminates the risk of injury to workers using bucket trucks or climbing trees to cut limbs near high voltage equipment.

Ohio Edison serves more than 1 million customers across 34 Ohio counties. Follow Ohio Edison on Twitter @OhioEdison and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OhioEdison.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com.

Editor's Note: Photos of workers trimming trees near FirstEnergy power lines are available for download on Flickr. A video explaining and demonstrating tree-trimming work can be found on FirstEnergy's YouTube channel.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.