PSO Plants Trees Under Power Lines

Public Service Company of Oklahoma has started planting trees under powerlines. It's part of a plan to demonstrate that trees can grow under the lines, if it's the right tree. Over the last two

Tuesday, June 5th 2007, 8:43 pm

By: News On 6

Public Service Company of Oklahoma has started planting trees under powerlines. It's part of a plan to demonstrate that trees can grow under the lines, if it's the right tree. Over the last two years, PSO has trimmed and cut down trees to improve reliability and it's worked. Outages caused by trees are down by half. The News On 6â€™s Emory Bryan reports now, some people have been surprised to see the power company planting trees right under their lines, but it is happening.

This is the new image that PSO wants to project about the utility and Tulsa's trees. It's an example of a new tree planting policy that's changing attitudes about PSO.

"It's really a good thing for the neighborhood,â€ said Tulsa resident Greg Simmons. â€œIt really brightens things up."

PSO planted two dozen red and white bud trees in a spot where much larger trees were touching the powerlines above.

"The replantings with our street tree projects, all these things are outgrowths of what we've heard from people before and our response to working with these community groups," said PSO spokesman Stan Whiteford.

What PSO was hearing was anger, from homeowners, two years ago, after the start of an aggressive tree trimming program. It was designed to help cut down on outages, but it built up animosity. Now, the utility is working to plant more trees and help homeowners select trees that are compatible with powerlines.

"This is an example of what we want to do when we have to remove trees under power lines along a major arterial like this," said Whiteford.

In 2005, PSO was criticized for cutting down 40 large Bradford Pear trees on 61st Street. The limbs from the trees were shorting out the lines above. Now the utility has gone back and planted Crepe Myrtles, which won't be as large, and will not interfere with the lines.

PSO isn't doing projects like this on every street. Most of their lines are in back yards, but on major streets like 61st street, they're planting trees under the line to make the point that power lines and trees can coexist.

And the smaller plantings are a preview of a much larger example. PSO plans to plant an arboretum of power line approved trees around and under the lines of this substation. Visitors will be welcome to see for themselves which trees are fine around powerlines.

Watch the video: PSO Plants Trees Under Power Lines To Cut Down On Outages

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