Why vegetation management near power lines is essential

An essential activity

Electric arcing may occur if a tree or other object is too close to a transmission line, even if it isn't touching it. Improper vegetation management in rights-of-way increases the risk of electrocution for workers and the population. In addition, electric arcing may cause fires or power outages that could affect thousands of customers.

A regulated activity

In 2003, there was a widespread power outage that affected the states and provinces in northeastern North America. Over 10 million people in Ontario and 45 million people in the United States were without electricity for several days. The outage was largely caused by the vegetation that was growing too close to the transmission lines.

As a result, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a regulatory body, instituted reliability standards for vegetation management around North American transmission systems. In Québec, the Régie de l'énergie ensures the application of these standards.

As a result, Hydro-Québec must set out and implement annual vegetation management programs to ensure system reliability. It must also submit reports on the outages caused by vegetation to the NERC, which could impose sanctions for major service disruptions.