Media contact: 608-458-4040
MADISON, Wis. – Aug. 19, 2014 – Now is the time to make an important choice about trees for communities and homeowners.
Many communities are proactively removing ash trees because of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). This insect attacks and kills ash trees. Alliant Energy’s crews are often part of the effort to safely remove Ash trees near power lines.
Because of EAB, Alliant Energy takes special precautions to limit the transportation of these trees. Alliant Energy follows the guidelines that prohibit moving trees out of a quarantined county. In special cases, Alliant Energy finely shreds the trees to required standards to eliminate any larvae.
After a tree is removed, Alliant Energy encourages careful planning so customers can get maximum energy-savings benefits from replacement trees, while also reducing outages and the need for extensive tree trimming.
Historically, communities planted ash trees along roads because they grew fast and looked nice. However, these trees often contact power lines and cause an outage. To prevent outages, Alliant Energy crews must do routine tree trimming.
“Certain types of trees work really well in a given location,” said Dan Green, arborist and manager of tree trimming for Alliant Energy. “You shouldn’t plant a tree that will grow tall if there are power lines above it.”
When replanting after EAB, several factors should be considered. If the tree will go near power lines, use a species that doesn’t grow tall. If the tree is designed to provide shade and energy efficiency, it should be planted where there is a lot of room to grow.
Information about the many species of trees that work well in all locations, including under power lines, is available at alliantenergy.com/treetrimming.
