Right of Way Maintenance Program
A community-owned utility is a trusted hometown source of both utility service and reliable information for friends, neighbors, and families – the residents that own the Utilities District of Western Indiana.
Therefore, we are committed to efficient and safe operations for both our employees and our customers. We strive to bring you, our owners, high reliability at a competitive price, while keeping large budget items in check. One of these high-dollar items is right-of-way maintenance; this is a very large portion of the budget in the operations department. Reliability hinges on the fact that we either trim, remove, or spray the trees in the utility lines to keep the electric service on for you and your neighbors.
We all appreciate the beauty of trees and the cooling benefits they offer to our homes and neighborhoods; however, we must remember that a tree or branch falling onto the power lines can knock out power to hundreds of customer in a simply second. Poles may also be broken by the weight of falling trees resulting in a much longer outage. We, too, have all experienced those annoying blinks caused by a tree limb slapping against a power line. Your local cooperative, Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC, is determined to decrease this type of outage by using the best vegetation management practices available.
Over the past few years, UDWI has implemented a spray program to decrease cost per foot to a more manageable budget number, as well as eliminate the need for constant trimming. As owners of the cooperative, you help is also needed to allow us to reach this goal.
During summer months, The Daltons Company of Warsaw, works for the for the Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC to perform chemical vegetation control on brush and woody plants. The Daltons Company is fully licensed and certified by the Indiana State Chemist to do this work. During the spray operation, The Daltons Company will take care to avoid sensitive areas such as front yards, tree plantations, ornamental plantings, crops, gardens, lakes and streams adjacent to the right-of-way.
If you do not want chemical applied near your property, feel free to post your property with a “no spray” sign. We do try to notify our customers but do not always reach them during the daytime hours. You can call us with your wishes and we will add your name to the “no spray” list.
If you have any questions about the spray or tree trimming program in your area, feel free to contact our office at (800) 489-7362 or (812) 384-4446.
Importance of Tree Trimming:
- Safety:Power liners carry high voltages of electricity. These wires can be deadly. Only trained professionals should attempt to trim trees near power lines. By working together to trim trees, we can assure the safety of our members.
- Electrical reliability:Trees and other vegetation are the cause of over 25 percent of all power outages. During ice storms and windy days, trees and limbs been the primary cause for outages. By pruning trees, cutting down trees, cutting the right of way and cutting vines, we can prevent power outages.
- Tree health:Trees are an important part of our environment. They shade our yards, act as homes to all sorts of birds and animals, and are a beautiful and valuable part of our surroundings. Tree pruning is necessary to “keep the lights” on. At the same time, UDWI REMC wants to keep your trees healthy for years to come. By using nationally recognized arboricultural pruning techniques we can prune your trees to assure they heal and continue to grow.
UDWI REMC wil come and trim trees that are threatening primary power lines. On secondary lines, we will temporarily disconnect service and drop the line free of charge so tree trimming or removal can take place safely by the homeowner. We thank you for helping us keeps limbs clear of power lines. This will help to prevent outages in the future.