In previous months, I have written about your Cooperative's commitment to providing quality service to its members and this month I would like to tell you about SouthEastern's vegetation management program and how critical this is to providing the cooperative members with safe, reliable, environmentally responsible and affordable energy.

One of the many advantages of living in Southern Illinois is the beauty of this area including the Shawnee National Forrest and the great variety of trees and vegetation that grow throughout the region.  Although your Cooperative realizes the significance of this important natural resource and are advocates for retaining as many local trees as possible, we must implement a sound vegetation management program to ensure you with reliable energy solutions.

SouthEastern's current vegetation management program sets the goal of trimming on a four-year cycle.  This means that what is trimmed or cut today will be trimmed again in four years.  Your Cooperative feels that if this goal can be achieved, you as Cooperative members will experience less momentary blinks, less outages and faster restoration times which increases the quality and reliability of your electric service.  In order to achieve this goal, SouthEastern needs to trim and cut trees along 900 miles of power line per year.  In previous years, your Cooperative has spent some $1.5 - $2.0 million dollars annually to trim and remove trees adjacent to, over and under power lines.  In order to achieve the four-year cycle goal, your Cooperative has determined that additional funding is required in order to get more trimming accomplished in 2007 and 2008.  In the year 2007 and 2008, your Cooperative's vegetation management program will require approximately $3.5 million dollars and $3.0 million dollars respectively.

As you can see, SouthEastern's employees are working diligently to provide a sound vegetation management program but you, as Cooperative members and owners, can help us maximize the use of your money and improve your electric service by allowing us to achieve proper trim clearance on your trees and participating in other programs.  Your Cooperative initiated a program several years ago known as "Swap a Tree".  This program was then enhanced in 2004 to allow members an additional option.  If you allow the Cooperative to remove a lawn tree that is interfering with primary lines and which is being periodically trimmed by the Cooperative, you are eligible to receive one of the following two options:

1.        SouthEastern will cut the tree down, cut it up into firewood-length pieces, chip the small brush and plant a new tree of your choice such as oak, maple, tulip poplar, willow, pear and gum (additional species are also available) approximately 40 feet from the primary line.

2.        SouthEastern will cut the tree down, cut it up into firewood-length pieces, chip the small brush and allow members a $2.00 per inch in diameter cash credit for lawn tree stump removal and provide a $75 per lawn tree cash credit.

If you are interested in participating in this program which will increase the reliability of electric service to yourself and your neighbors while helping to preserve our environment, please call Jeff Crisp, Property and Right-Of-Way Control Manager, at (800)-833-2611 ext. 165 and he will help you get started with these options.

See you next month and as always, "We'll keep the lights on for you."