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A. South Central Power Company trims/cuts trees to ensure safe and reliable electric service as well as ensure public safety and property.
A. You should NEVER get near electric lines or use any kind of equipment close to a line. If tree branches have grown into lines in an alley, street or backyard utility easement, you should
contact South Central Power so they can schedule a tree trimming crew to correct the problem.
A. Residents can help South Central Power minimize tree-related outages and ensure the beauty of their landscapes through thoughtful planting of new trees. Trees planted along the property's border should either be low growing shrubs or tall and narrow trees, planted at least as far away from the lines as the trees' natural spread. Spreading trees, such as elms, oaks and maples, are common outage-causing culprits and should be planted at least 50 feet away from power lines.
Before planting trees on your property, the location of utility lines should be considered. Are lines overhead or underground? Never dig near underground utility lines. Future access to these underground lines should be considered when planting.
A. If overhead electric lines service your home, never get too close to the lines, and don't take tools or other objects near the lines. If you have underground electric service, never dig until you know where the lines are buried. To have underground lines located and marked at no charge, call 1-800-362-2764.
A. Only during emergency situations would a lineman do tree trimming. South Central Power hires qualified contractors to do their maintenance trimming.
A. That depends on a lot of different factors: the proximity of your tree to our lines, the growth habit of the tree, the size of the limbs that need to be removed, the availability of suitable lateral limbs to trim to, and other trimming that has been done to the tree.
A. Your trees may not be actually touching the wires, at this time, but they could be close enough to sway into the lines in high winds. Also all the trees on this feeder should be on the same approximate maintenance schedule. This improves reliability to everyone on the circuit and reduces the number of trips we have to make to maintain that reliability. The amount of time that it takes to restore power is also reduced. Trimming limbs before they cause a problem is ideal. By doing so, we can direct the growth away from the lines.
A. Our standards are based on several factors: the minimum safe working distance for a tree worker, how much trees sway in high winds, the amount of ice on a tree before it touches a power line, the ability of limbs to break and fall on lines and the varying growth and regrowth rates of different species of trees.
South Central Power's goal is to deliver safe and reliable electric service to our service territory.
A. Yes. Our qualified contractors are always looking for customers to accept wood chips. Wood chips are available to customers on a first come, first serve basis at no charge and can be delivered at your request. Deliveries will be made to areas the contractors are working in. You may receive up to 12 cubic yards (3 to 4 pick-up truck loads) of wood chips.
The wood chips consist of multiple tree species, are irregular in shape and color, and can include some twigs and rakings. When requesting information, please specify a location for the wood chips to be dumped.