In order to improve the electricity service provision for over 24,000 customers in southeastern Chester County, PECO, the electricity and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, has started its vegetation management along 320 miles of aerial electric lines.
The company which serves 1.6 million electricity and more than 506,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania said that it invests around $500 million a year to enhance its electric infrastructure, including preventive maintenance and equipment upgrades.
For this year in an attempt to prevent outages and improve the overall service, around $36 million of that will be invested in vegetation management work covering approximately 2,800 miles of aerial power lines alongside PECO’s electricity transmission and distribution system.
With years of experience under their belt, the company’s vegetation management crews are trained in arboricultural techniques as defined in the American National Standards Institute, A300 Standard. This standard takes into account both the type and location of the tree, how it is positioned in regards to the overhead equipment and overall health of the tree. All customers will be given advance notice of the start of any work in their area.
The work in Chester County, which began in June, will cost close to $2.2 million and is planned to be completed by the end of September. The extensive program will cover areas in Birmingham, East Bradford, East Goshen, East Marlboro, Kennett, Pennsbury, Pocopson, Thornbury, West Goshen, Westtown, and Willistown townships, as well as the boroughs of Kennett Square and West Chester.
“Vegetation growth causes about one-third of all electric outages,” stated John McDonald, PECO vice president of Technical Services. “Preventive pruning around aerial power lines is vital to safely keeping the lights on for our customers.”
