By Mary O’KEEFE

CVW has received many inquiries throughout the years concerning the tree trimming practices of Southern California Edison. Several residents have seen their trees trimmed repeatedly by SCE and its subcontractors and have shared their concerns for the health of their trees.

In response to the concerns from residents, CVW has asked Southern California Edison to participate in a community meeting, Tree Talk, to discuss these concerns. The meeting with residents and members of the Crescenta Valley Town Council takes place on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. at St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church’s Sadler Hall, 2563 Foothill Blvd.

Most residents support, and understand, the need for SCE to trim trees near power lines as a protective effort against fire; however, the inconsistency of the trimming seems to be where residents have issues.

For years SCE has been responsible for clearing limbs and removing trees from power lines but in 2017 the state standards for clearing tree limbs from power lines changed from a distance of four feet to a recommended 12 feet. This prompted SCE to create its Grid Safety and Resiliency Plan in order to meet this new standard.

In 2012, AB 2556 was introduced to help residents with their issues of extreme trimming; this was prior to the 12-foot recommendation. The bill would have required each “electrical corporation and local publicly owned electric utility to avoid excessive tree trimming that threatens the health of a tree, to make a good faith effort to implement good forestry practices and vegetation management practices and to preserve the health of the mountainous lands, forest-covered lands and brush covered lands,” according to the bill.

It would have also required utility companies to obtain written confirmation by an arborist of the need to remove a tree. The bill died in committee.

Some of the issues that have been shared by residents include private arborists who seem to be at odds with SCE arborists at what is best for the trees. There are also complaints that subcontractors who conduct the trimming tell residents, “This will be the last for a while” yet the next day another subcontractor contacts residents informing them of more “needed” trimming. In addition there is the practice of trimming only the part of the tree that is near the utility wires, which often creates trees with an “L” shape. In at least one case this caused the tree to be top heavy. It began to lean, which caused the root system to move closer to the surface, causing cracks in a nearby wall.

For its part, SCE feels it is following the protocols notifying residents of upcoming tree trimming and is doing the trimming in accordance to the California ordinance.

“At Southern California Edison, the safety of our customers, employees and communities is our number one priority, and managing vegetation around our equipment is one of the ways we help mitigate the potential risk of a significant wildfire. We take the health and well-being of each tree seriously when considering the best way to keep them a safe distance from high voltage power lines and other electrical equipment,” said Reggie Kumar, SCE spokesman, in a previous CVW interview. “Recently, SCE contractors were performing tree maintenance with overhanging branches that posed a significant risk to power lines. It is our practice to communicate with property owners regularly when we perform vegetation work on their property. We understand some customers have concerns about this type of work but it is important to maintaining the safety and reliability of our system. We encourage all our customers to schedule an inspection by calling SCE at 800-655-4555 if they have concerns about vegetation near power lines.”

SCE will have representatives at Tuesday night’s meeting who can answer questions from the public.