March-2024 Cooperative Living-SEC - SEC17

George A. Felts
Vice President of
Engineering and Operations
A
Cooperative Connection
Q
Questions Answered
As spring starts, it is time to get the lawnmower and yard tools out of the garage.
SEC does vegetation management during the year, including trimming rights-ofway
and removing trees that threaten infrastructure and could cause unwanted
power outages. How can members best help SEC with vegetation management?
Members can plant the right tree in the right
place to ensure trees will not grow into the power
line and create a future vegetation issue. A good
rule of thumb is to not plant a tree within 50 feet of
the edge of the existing right-of-way. This ensures
the new tree has plenty of room to grow and will
not pose a risk of damaging the line if it falls. Also,
ensure that plantings and screening trees do not
cut off future access to the right-of-way.
Be aware of how our crews will access your
property and the right-of-way when performing
maintenance. Ensure that fences have gates of at
least 12 feet in width to allow trucks and equipment
to quickly enter the right-of-way if you must secure
the right-of-way. Ensure that locked gates have
Cooperative-provided locks to allow easy access.
Ensure that equipment, vehicles, hay or other items
are not stored in the right-of-way. Such items limit
or eliminate our vegetation crews' access to trees
along the right-of-way edge.
Keep telephone numbers and address
information updated to ensure we can contact
the member, if needed, and to ensure that our
automated notices are routed to the member to
announce our trimming activities.
If a member sees a tree in his or her yard,
on their property or on other property that is
endangering the lines, contact SEC so that our
vegetation team can assess and remove the threat
before it causes an outage. Trees are constantly
dying or being damaged, and members are a huge
help in fi nding these quickly.
SOUTHSIDE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
Phone: 1-800-552-2118
Outages Only: 1-866-878-5514
Central District/Hdqtrs. - Crewe
Eastern District - Dinwiddie
Northern District - Powhatan
Western District - Altavista
Offi ce Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon-Fri.
Website: sec.coop
President and CEO: Jason C. Loehr
Local Pages Editor: Mark Thomas
This Institution is an
Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.
Legislative Day
Top: SEC President and CEO
Jason Loehr (center) and General
Counsel Frank Rennie IV (right) talk
with 51st District Del. Eric Zehr during
the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware
Association of Electric Cooperatives'
annual Legislative Day in January.
Bottom: Loehr and Rennie, joined
by Brenda Hicks Johnson, SEC board
member; and Lloyd Lenhart, director
of governmental and regulatory aff airs;
meet with 13th District Sen. Lashrecse
Aird (center). SEC leaders participate
in Legislative Day to educate elected
offi cials about key issues impacting
Cooperative members. Zehr and Aird
represent parts of SEC's 18 counties.
sec.coop
March 2024 * Cooperative Living * 15
http://www.sec.coop http://www.sec.coop
March-2024 Cooperative Living-SEC

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