After this week’s
severe storms, Pepco says it had about 15,000 customers without power, and
almost all the outages were weather-related because of fallen limbs and trees.
WASHINGTON — Pepco’s aggressive tree trimming and
removal near power lines has ignited bitter opposition in neighborhoods,
particularly in Potomac and Rockville, Maryland. But Pepco insists it
must cut trees to keep power flowing after severe weather.
Birgit Stuart, of St. Michael’s, Maryland, doesn’t like the
way Pepco crews went after the trees in her mother’s Rockville backyard this
week.
“It was their tactics and their attitude and the fact that
they were terrorizing an 83-year-old widow, in not allowing her in her own
backyard to watch what they were doing,” Stuart says.
Pepco has easement rights and the Maryland State Public
Service Commission has ordered that Pepco transmission lines be clear
of trees and limbs in order to boost electric service reliability, particularly
after severe storms.
But Stuart says the tree-cutting crew that showed up at her
mom’s house Monday morning included at least two security officers who, she
charges, acted like bullies.
“A female kept smirking at me and then lifted up her vest to
show me the gun she was wearing … and another person … started flexing his
muscles at me; it was a very tense situation,” Stuart says.
While not commenting on the specific incident involving
security, a Pepco spokesman says security at tree-cutting work sites is
needed to protect customers and workers because of past hostile and reckless
behavior.
Stuart’s mom pleaded with the tree cutters to spare the
three maple and oak trees in her backyard, which she insisted were healthy and
no threat to the power lines.
“She is upset because I think she believes she was not
treated fairly, no one was willing to listen to her. They were not
even willing to look at the arborist’s report and testing she had done on
the tree,” Stuart says.
But Pepco says all three trees had significant decay and
were too close to the power lines. So the trees came down.
Stuart and some Pepco residential customers in Rockville and
Potomac have been up in arms over what they say is excessive and unnecessary
tree cutting.
“I believe that they are very concerned about how the public
perceives their lack of reliability and this is a very visible way that they
can say they’re making it reliable when it’s really not helping at all,” Stuart
says.
But Pepco says the tree trimming and removal near
transmission lines is not only necessary but mandated by the PSC, after a
series of severe storms caused prolonged power outages beginning in 2010.
Pepco says it had about 15,000 customers without power after
Wednesday’s severe early-morning storms, and almost all the outages were
weather-related, caused by fallen limbs and trees.
This post was originally published here: Pepco Tree Trimming Puts Area Neighborhoods
On Edge
Related article: What to Look
for in Tree Services
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