Utility Tree Trimming & Removal
Connecticut’s roadside trees provide many benefits to our communities and state, including cleaner air, shade, absorbing stormwater, and higher property values. They are part of New England’s distinctive charm and character, but aggressive vegetation management programs being carried out by the state’s two largest electric utilities threaten these trees. Enhanced Tree Trimming, or “ETT,” attempts to remove all tall-growing trees or limbs within eight feet of most utility lines.
During ETT, trees are targeted for removal regardless of their health, structural integrity, age, size, importance, or any other factor other than their location relative to utility lines. These plans have already left many neighborhoods—including ones in Hamden and Wilton—devoid of tall trees and have mangled many other trees, leaving them structurally unsound and at greater risk for disease and death.
The utility companies argue that removing trees near power lines will reduce the risk of power outages during severe weather. While reliable power is important, it cannot be the only consideration. UI and Eversource (formerly CL&P) have not considered the impact of their plans on the environment, neighborhood beauty, property values, air quality, or municipal resources. Their approach is not only overly costly to perform—costs that result in higher utility bills—but towns and residents then have to pay to remove stumps and replant trees, pay higher energy costs due to the loss of shade, replace roads more often, pay to control and treat additional stormwater and flooding, and deal with significant reductions to home and business values. While power can typically be restored in hours or days, mature trees take decades to regrow!
CFE believes it’s possible to reduce risk to electric infrastructure without decimating Connecticut’s roadside trees.
Click on the map above to learn more about the municipalities most at risk from ETT.
Use this map from DEEP to find your local tree warden.