It’s Time for Spring Cleaning, Trimming
Wells Rural Electric Co. takes great pride in providing members with safe, reliable, affordable electricity.
While power outages are inevitable, WREC’s electrical linemen go to great lengths to make sure they’re always prepared to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Perhaps even more importantly, they avoid as many outages as possible by executing a detailed preventive maintenance program.
In spring and early summer, bird nest control and tree trimming are important components that help WREC line crews keep the power flowing.
Bird Nests
From March through June, bird nests are one of the leading causes of power outages for WREC members. In 2018, bird nests caused 34 power outages, accounting for more than 20 percent of outages for the entire year.
Birds often nest on transformers or other structures. When nests become big enough and get wet, they can create faults and outages. WREC devotes considerable resources to preventing these outages, removing more than 200 nests in 2018.
Tree Trimming
Just like nests contact lines and create faults, tree limbs can quickly get out of control and damage equipment when they grow into lines or break and fall. WREC will be doing its annual tree trimming over the next few months, starting in Carlin and Jiggs in April before moving to Wells later in the year. This is a vital service that helps avoid lengthy outages.
Benefits of Tree Trimming
Clearing trees and overgrown vegetation is vital to provide safe, reliable power to our consumer-members.
We clear certain areas in our service territory, known as rights of way, to:
- Keep power lines clear of tree limbs
- Restore power outages more quickly
- Keep crews and members of our community safe
- Reduce unexpected costs for repairs
Vegetation management improves service reliability for you — our members!
