INC NEWS - utilities trimming trees

[Pat Carstensen]

This is what other cities are facing....  Regards, pat



BGE fined over trees: Utility is facing levy of $180,000 for failing to keep limbs from transmission...







  Jun 5, 2008
  
    - McClatchy Tribune Business News
  




Author(s): Paul Adams







	
            	    
	





Jun. 5--Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., criticized by some lawmakers this year
for being too aggressive in trimming trees around power lines, faces a
$180,000 federal fine for failing to keep tree limbs a safe distance from
high-voltage transmission lin s, regulators said yesterday.  







BGE and Des Moines, Iowa-based MidAmerica Energy Holdings Co. were among the
first utilities in the nation to face financial penalties under new
regulations put in place last year. The rules were adopted partly in response
to a 2003 blackout that affected 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada. The
blackout, which didn't involve BGE or Maryland, was triggered when an
overloaded transmission line in northeastern Ohio sagged onto  ree limbs that
grew too close. The North American Electric Reliability Corp., set up to
oversee transmission lines, established new mandatory rules for power lines
last June. 



BGE's fine stems from an Aug. 15 incident in which a transmission line
connecting substations in Baltimore County and Harford County came into
contact with trees, causing an interruption. No customers were affected by the
incident because of redundancies built into the power grid, said Rob Gould, a
spokesman for Constellation Energy Group, BGE's corporate parent. The utility
reported the problem to NERC and subsequently conducted inspections of all of
its power line corridors. The company also hired an independent contractor to
check its work, after which the utility submitted plans to prevent any further
proble s. Those plans were later approved by regulators. 



"We have a very strong compliance program, and we take very seriously the
idea that trees and vegetation along transmission lines, which are the
backbone of an electric system, can have negative impacts if not maintained
properly," Gould said. NERC officials credited BGE and other utilities
for self-reporting power line violations and taking quick action. "It's
often said that the first step to fixing a problem is admitting that a problem
exists, and that's what these companies have done," said Richard P.
Sergel, NERC's president and chief executive, in a statement. MidAmerica was
fined $75,000 for similar violations. 



BGE faced criticism last year by some residents upset with the utility's
tree-trimming practices. A small group testified before a Senate committee in
March that they received little warning that trees were going to be cut down
or trimmed to protect pow r lines near their property. The complaints resulted
in bills being introduced to give the public more input on tree trimming
actions. paul.adams at baltsun.com
More articles








_________________________________________________________________
Enjoy 5 GB of free, password-protected online storage.
http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_062008
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.deltaforce.net/mailman/private/inc-list/attachments/20080606/3773e5d8/attachment.htm