The two utilities serving most of Columbia and Boone County spend a combined $5 million annually on tree trimming, which officials say helped minimize power outages when almost 17 inches of heavy, wet snow broke branches and toppled trees.

Almost 10,000 Columbia Water and Light customers were knocked out in the Jan. 11 to 13 snowstorm and about 4,000 Boone Electric Cooperative members lost power in the storm.

Power was restored for Boone Electric members within 48 hours, said Matt Kemna, a right-of-way coordinator for Boone Electric.

"We were able to work through them pretty quickly with help from five or six out-of-town crews," Kemna said.

Boone Electric's main service area is Boone County but it also has members in Randolph, Audrain, Monroe, Howard and Callaway counties.

Kemna said the nearly 2,000 miles of overhead lines are on a five-year rotation. Its budget for the tree maintenance is about $3 million.

"In 2018, we did a pretty thorough job," Kemna said. "We had very few outages on those circuits we had worked on during the year."

Power was restored to most Columbia Water and Light customers by the morning of Jan. 13 and all customers were back online by morning, Jan. 14, said Lissie Wade, Water and Light spokeswoman.

Every property in the city is assessed every three years for overhanging limbs, dying trees and hazards that have grown into power lines, said Morgan Long, electric services superintendent for the city.

The city will also respond to customer calls about hazards. The utility's annual budget for tree trimming is $2 million.

The utility notifies property owners two to three weeks before trees are trimmed.

"We do that with a team of 30 to 32 people on a contract crew," Long said of the trimming. "It is a year-round process with daily interaction with customers."

He said the response to hazards called in by customers is a customer service measure.

"When they see a concern, we evaluate it based on the hazard to the utility," Long said. He said visits with customers are a daily occurrence.

He said machines with rubberized tracks are used to do the work.

"Before we had to climb the trees and it was very time-consuming," Long said. The machines are more convenient and the process is less disruptive to the property, he added.

"It helped with our rapport with customers," Long said.

Boone Electric tries to remove all possible hazards that could bring down lines, Kemna said.

"We try to trim at least 10 feet around residential properties," Kemna said. "We remove everything underneath the line. We also run an herbicide program in the more remote areas to reduce the vegetation under the lines."

Richard Blumer, also a right-of-way coordinator for Boone Electric, said its trimming program also is year-round.

"We make quite a bit of effort to communicate with members," Blumer said. "We send a postcard notifying them we'll be trimming. The crews generally try to speak to everybody, too."

Blumer said if a member is reluctant at first, an explanation usually can help them see the benefit. He said they work with members for the least disruptive solution.

"We just work for them," Blumer said. "We go above and beyond."

Customers worried that trimming will diminish the beauty of their trees are told that services to themselves and others depend on clear lines.

"We go out and offer them more explanation," Kemna said. "We do note it's for their safety and the liability to other members."

Long also said a visit with customers helps them see the benefit of the maintenance.

"We explain the safety risks to the power system so our customers understand why we're there," Long said.

The recent outages caused by falling tree limbs were unavoidable, and without preventive trimming, it may have been much worse, utility officials said.

Long said the trimming the city utility does is the minimum to eliminate the threat to power lines.

"We want to maintain a healthy tree canopy as well," Long said. "Wet, heavy snow is hard on every tree."

As an example, Long said during the snowstorm the top of a tall pine tree broke off and fell onto a primary electric line.

"It was 20 to 25 feet away from the power line," Long said. "The tree was weak and the snow was heavy."

He said the trimming program certainly reduced the hazard.

"We took a proactive approach about six years ago," Long said. "Had we not done that, most utilities would just react to it. It would've been much worse."

"There's always trees that aren't easily visible," Blumer said. "It's something we're constantly trying to improve on."

The snowstorm damaged one-third of the trees on the University of Missouri campus, but MU didn't experience power outages.

"We're in great shape," MU spokesman Christian Basi said after the snowstorm. "We don't have a lot of overhead power lines. They're all underground. We've had no reports of power outages."

The utility officials said placing power lines underground is very expensive. It's also more costly and difficult to repair them when they need work.

rmckinney@columbiatribune.com

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