Eversource has provided a list of streets in West Hartford where trees will be trimmed during 2023.

Courtesy of Town of West Hartford

By Ronni Newton

Eversource began its annual vegetation management program in late January, and has provided the Town of West Hartford with a list of streets where they plan to conduct work this year ranging from maintenance tree-trimming and pruning, to more extensive tree trimming, to removal of trees that are decayed, insect-infested or otherwise damaged or structurally week  and pose a danger to power lines.

Incidents related to trees are the major cause of power outages during storm in Connecticut, and responsible for a large percentage of outages in West Hartford.

According to town officials, in West Hartford, 28% of the power outages in 2023 were caused by trees, resulting in outages for 4,926 of Eversource’s 29,220 customers in town. According to a news release fro the town, “From 2019 to 2023, 418 customers refused to let Eversource perform trimming of branches that touch the power lines.”

This year, Eversource plans to trim trees along 77.7 miles of overhead electric distribution lines in west Hartford, as well as along 22.1 miles of the backbone of the electrical grid.

Last year Eversource trimmed trees along 67.8 miles of overhead electric distribution lines, and 15.1 miles are along the backbone of the electrical grid.

Planned and scheduled vegetation management of 2024 will include work on the electric transmission rights-of-way (ROW) in West Hartford indicated on the map below. (Also provided as a PDF below the article.) Side pruning, and selective removal of hazardous trees will take place along the ROW or just beyond the edge of the area, and will be reviewed in advance by the town, officials said.

Map of West Hartford provided by Eversource indicates main power lines in red and feeds to streets in blue.

In addition, all tree removal that extends beyond the limits of the ROW easement will be discussed with the property owners in advance of the work. Eversource is hopeful that property owners will permit the work to take place, since damage from tree limbs, or entire trees, falling across power lines is the leading source of outages.

“We are asking for your cooperation as Eversource performs this important work to keep our town up and running year-round,” town officials said in an announcement.

Courtesy of Town of West Hartford

The following links provide more details regarding the types of maintenance planned.

• Scheduled Maintenance Trimming (SMT)
• Enhanced Tree Trimming (ETT)
• Maintenance Enhanced Tree Trimming (METT)

Anyone with questions about the tree-trimming program can obtain more information by going to this webpage which includes a list of FAQs. 

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