The costs associated with maintaining safe and reliable rights of ways for electric utilities are significant. In fact, vegetation management costs are typically utilities’ single largest maintenance expense.

It is indeed a challenge to define the total expenditure on vegetation management related activities. Some larger investor owned utilities are spending more than $100 million annually to maintain safe reliable service, while smaller municipal or cooperatives may spend considerably less. However, the total market is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.

That being said, it is difficult to project how much of these dollars are directed specifically to assessment activities. Assessment of rights of ways can encompass a broad range of activities from pre-inspection, post audits, aerial patrols etc. Some utilities sub-contract these services while other utilities have their own resources. Depending on a program’s design, implementation and management the investment for assessment activities could be as small as 5-6% of the total budget. However, more progressive utilities often allocate a much higher percentage of overall budget to assessment, pre-inspection, auditing, management, customer relation activities etc.