Entergy Corporation : Entergy Arkansas Crews Work to Beat the Arrival of Winter Storm Season
12/30/2011| 04:53pm US/Eastern
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Drought conditions create additional challenges for tree
trimming
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - While many of us are counting down to
2012, vegetation management crews across the state are
hustling to finish their work to remove limbs and trees at
risk of falling on power lines during winter storms.
Entergy Arkansas, Inc. maintains more than 31,000 miles of
distribution power lines, and a key component of that
maintenance is managing the vegetation under and near the
lines. Access to work areas in many cases can be difficult,
and workers, mostly contractors, routinely face obstacles
ranging from poison ivy to insects and snakes to steep slopes
and swamps. The company's vegetation management team follows
a four-to-five year cycle to ensure that all lines receive
proactive tree maintenance. The work includes mowing,
trimming, applying herbicides and removing tall trees outside
of the right-of-way that are dead and in danger of falling on
power lines. During 2011 Arkansas crews completed more than
7,800 miles of distribution vegetation management.
"Arkansas is a geographically diverse state, and every
terrain presents its own variety of challenges, both for
preventive maintenance and for restoration work.," said Don
Woods, vegetation management manager for Entergy Arkansas,
Inc. "But we've been doing this a long time, and we know what
it takes to minimize the threat of overgrown vegetation while
respecting the environment, whether in the Ozark Mountains or
the Mississippi River Delta."
The persistent 2011 heat and drought conditions in the
Southern states have created new obstacles in all Entergy
service areas.Vegetation management groups typically spend
the bulk of their efforts maintaining vegetation and trees in
the immediate vicinity of the power lines. However, another
threat is tall dead trees that are far enough from the lines
to be outside of the right-of-way, but near enough to fall on
the power lines if and when they fall. With the drought,
these dead trees, known in the business as "danger trees" are
plentiful. Workers have removed about 9,000 dead trees since
January. This year's drought conditions will continue to
affect tree maintenance requirements for 2012 and beyond.
"It is sad to see the devastating effects of the drought up
close," added Woods. "We work diligently to find the balance
between preservation, reliability, and customer
satisfaction."
Entergy Arkansas also participates in tree-planting projects
and public education programs to teach people steps they can
take to help the environment. In October, Entergy Corporation
teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation to provide 10,000
free trees to customers in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana,
New Orleans and Texas. The effort was part of the Arbor Day
Foundation's pilot Energy-Saving Trees program aimed at
helping conserve energy through strategic tree-planting.
Entergy Arkansas encourages planting the "right tree in the
right place" to avoid future tree maintenance work under or
along energized power lines.
Entergy Arkansas, Inc. provides electricity to more than
698,000 customers in 63 counties. It is a subsidiary of
Entergy Corporation. Entergy Corporation is an integrated
energy company engaged primarily in electric power production
and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates
power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric
generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear
generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity
to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas.
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