This is a fairly common problem. Utilities see their SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index), SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) and CAIDI (Customer Average Interruption Frequency) numbers degrading, tree-related outages on the rise, and they are not sure what to do. Often there is the frustration of “we are already spending millions of dollars on our program,” but you’re not seeing the expected results.

One of the best solutions to this dilemma is to hire a professional consulting firm to conduct a system assessment of the vegetation management program. The system assessment enables a utility to gain a 360-degree view of current conditions on the right-of-way, review and design a best practices management system, recommendation of an appropriate budget, design vegetation management specifications and recommended contracting strategy. The system assessment is similar to a “complete physical” of the right-of-way program and upon completion delivers a “play book” that a utility can implement to develop a cost effective program that improves reliability and maximizes the return on your investment.

Another consideration in the evaluation of a vegetation management program is the budget. I once had a manager of a utility say to me, “The trees don’t know you just cut the budget; and they should stop growing.” With vegetation management it is one of those expenditures where it is either “pay me now” or “pay me a lot more later.” In general terms, it is often a wise investment to focus your program on removing small trees and brush in and next to the right-of-way. This investment makes sense because it is much more cost effective to remove a smaller tree or area of brush, than to defer the work allowing the brush or trees to grow larger, hence the “pay-me-now or pay-me-a-lot-more-later”.

Finally, you should have the right team in place to manage the budget and implement the recommendations outlined in the system assessment. This team should have the technical skills and experience in utility vegetation management. These positions can be internal employees or contracted to a third party with expertise in utility vegetation management.