NB Power to spend $5.8M trimming trees to prevent major outages in future

ROTHESAY, N.B. – New Brunswick’s power provider says it is spending millions of dollars to prevent widespread power outages like those seen last winter in the province.

NB Power is vowing to be more proactive following severe ice storms knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes for several days during the coldest months of the year.

The utility plans to spend $5.8 million this year to clear low-hanging branches and tress from around power lines, which is an increase of $1 million over last year’s preventive maintenance budget.

Angry residents have been putting pressure on the province to step up, saying the widespread outages were preventable.

Gaetan Thomas, the president and CEO of NB Power, said the extra money will ensure enough branches are cut.

“Before the storms, a lot of people thought we were cutting more than we needed,” he said. “But now that we had the storms, the majority of our customers say we haven’t cut enough.”

The maintenance plan will be expanded over the next two years, although it is still expected to cost less than the $12 million spent by the utility in December 2013 alone.

In addition to implementing more tree trimming, NB Power is also launching a new pilot project using lidar technology. It will mount lasers on a plane and fly over the province to identify areas where tree branches are too close to the lines. Then, it will contract specially trained crews contracted to trim the trees.

NB Power vegetation supervisor Cindy Morris says residents across the province should not attempt to clear their own branches away from the power lines.

“These guys are highly qualified, they have insulated equipment,” she said. “You’ve got to have the proper tools and training to do any kind of work anywhere close to the lines.”

Morris says crews will do their best to respect people’s property and are trained to trim the threes without affecting their health and growth.

The utility says it also has a plan to improve restoration times and overall communication with its customers, which was another area of frustration for some residents during the ice storms.