Before the advent of digital clocks and other modern electronic gadgets there was nothing in our homes to alert us to the momentary nuisance we have all come to know as a “blink”.

Although they only last a fraction of a second, blinks are actually tiny power outages resulting from devices known as reclosers which have been installed on our power lines and which operate in a manner similar to the circuit breakers that protect your home’s wiring.  However, when a breaker trips at your home, you or your electrician must manually close it after the cause of the trip has been corrected.  When a fault occurs on your Cooperative’s distribution system, reclosers momentarily interrupt power flow and then have the ability to permanently restore power, provided the source of the fault has been removed. 

The advanced (and expensive) technology used in modern reclosers improves electric service because these devices have the ability to differentiate between temporary faults such as limbs brushing against power lines, or permanent faults such as power lines laying on the ground. 

Blinks can result from a number of situations such as animals or snakes, but trees are the most common cause of blinks and this is where you can help us provide better service to your home and neighborhood.

If you were to drive from Los Angeles to Nashville and then from Nashville to the north most border of Maine, you would travel 3,000 miles or some 400 miles less than the amount of power line your Cooperative operates and maintains.  Maintaining power lines includes foliage control and although you might think this number is a typographical error, SouthEastern currently trims over 70,000 trees. 

Most of our power lines were built decades ago and over the years the demographics of the Cooperative’s service area have changed significantly.  There are fewer farms these days, but many more rural homes and rural subdivisions.  Consequently, acres of plowed fields and clean fence rows have given way to thousands of manicured lawns, most of them well equipped with both shade and decorative trees.

As a result of that demographic change, each year more members are asking for minimal trimming of trees.  Since the members of the Cooperative are also its owners, our employees are often caught between the proverbial “rock & hard spot”.  The problem being the minimum distance between any tree and power line, for both safety and reliability reasons, is ten feet for primary voltages.  Trimming a tree without achieving at least ten foot of clearance is somewhat analogous to cutting your lawn; it just doesn’t last.

To be perfectly honest, given the amount of power line exposure that we maintain, there is really no way to completely eliminate blinks, but our members can certainly help minimize blinking for themselves and their neighbors by allowing us to properly trim lawn trees.

Our “Swap a Tree” program is often a better option than trimming for both Cooperative and members when lawn trees are involved, and we have planted some 2,000 replacement trees since the program was initiated in 1990.

This year your Cooperative is enhancing the “Swap a Tree” program by allowing members a $2.00 per inch credit for lawn tree stump removal and a $75 per lawn tree credit for members who don’t want replacement trees planted by the Cooperative.

Only lawn trees that are interfering with primary lines and which are being periodically trimmed by the Cooperative are eligible for replacement or cash credits.  Please phone Bob Kielhorn at 1-800-833-2611, Extension 165 for more information.

In 2005, your Cooperative has budgeted $2,000,000 for right of way maintenance.  Help us maximize the use of your money and improve your electric service by allowing us to achieve proper trim clearance on your trees.