Just What Does AEP Have Planned for Granville's Trees?

Asplundh is returning to town soon to trim Granville’s trees. This time around the trimming could be much more severe than in past years. During the past few weeks, Asplundh has been in town for limited trimming in the periphery of town and in areas where new power poles need to be installed. The main trimming will be soon. What do Asplundh and AEP have planned for Granville’s trees?

The Asplundh tree trimming is being directed by AEP. Initially, AEP informed Granville officials that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) had approved a new tree trimming standard. In the past, AEP said it trimmed to a three-year standard, but now AEP was directing it to trim to a five-year standard. This difference could be significant. In a 1997 document, AEP stated that it needed to trim, for example, a sugar maple 11 feet from the power lines to achieve a three-year clearance. However, for the same sugar maple, AEP would need to trim 17 feet of clearance to achieve a five-year clearance. [AEP Consumer Circuit, 1997, at p. 9].

A 17 foot clearance could devastate Granville’s trees. An example of this might be the recent trimming of a tree at the bottom of the Main Street hill. But is 17 feet really the standard, and has Ohio’s PUCO actually approved this plan? The answers to these questions become obscured by further information received from AEP and new information that the Granville Press has learned from the PUCO.

As a follow-up to the contact that AEP made with Granville officials, AEP provided two documents, one of which contains Asplundh’s trimming guidelines. This document is dated March 5, 2004. This document raised a few important issues. First, this document is dated over five years ago and, thus, it can not represent a “new” standard being promoted by Ohio’s PUCO. Secondly, this document speaks of a three-year clearance, not the five-year clearance recently mentioned by AEP [p. 10 of March 5, 2004 Guidelines]. Finally, the document itself describes itself as containing AEP “guidelines,” not PUCO standards that must be followed.

Upon questioning this document, the Village staff contacted AEP and then received a new set of guidelines dated May 14, 2009. This document failed to clarify the problems in AEP’s representations. First, this document also speaks to a three-year clearance, not a five-year clearance. [p. 9 of May 14, 2009 Guidelines]. Furthermore, the document refers the reader to Tables I and II in the Appendix, but none of the tables in the Appendix are identified as Tables I and II. This creates a bit of confusion. And this document has not been approved by Ohio’s PUCO.

The truth is AEP’s plan to trim to a five-year cycle and then go to a four-year cycle during future years is in discussion at the PUCO, but it has not been approved.

FUTURE ACTIONS

AEP’s Tom McCray is scheduled to appear at Tuesday’s Granville’s Tree and Landscape meeting at 7:00 p.m., September 8, 2009, in the 2nd floor conference room at the Village offices. Perhaps, at that time, the Village will receive answers to clarify what AEP intends during the upcoming tree trimming.

Before that meeting, here are some items for Village officials to ponder. First, what the Village really needs are the specific plans for each tree AEP plans to trim. In the most recent AEP Guidelines, AEP directs tree trimming contractors such as Asplundh to prepare a plan for tree trimming. [see ¶ E-3, p. 5, of AEP’s 2009 Guidelines]. AEP approves the plans before the trimming begins. The Village needs these plans because AEP Guidelines can be read and interpreted to merely trim a tree aggressively, or to virtually denude it, depending on how the standards are interpreted.

Secondly, the Village needs to understand that the AEP guidelines provide for the village to refuse a cutting plan if the Village feels that AEP’s trimming goes too far or is not reasonable. [see ¶ G, p. 6, of AEP’s 2009 Guidelines]. The Village invests thousands of dollars of tax payer money each year into planting and maintaining tree-lined streets, and if AEP’s plans are to denude the Village of its trees, then the Village should have something to say about this.

Finally, this situation presents an opportunity for AEP and the Village to partner to both increase the reliability of our electrical service as well as preserve an important part of the Village’s street scape. This can form a model for other communities to do the same thing.