Message from Duke Energy to the Town of Beaufort:
Feb. 18, 2021
Duke Energy is committed to providing customers with safe, reliable electric service. As part of this commitment, it is important that we maintain trees and other vegetation along the lines that deliver electricity to the communities that we serve. Maintaining trees and vegetation along these lines also enhances safety for customers, as well as Duke Energy employees and contractors. Our process is to remove any natural growth that could pose a danger to the power lines and public safety. By removing potentially dangerous fire and electrical shock hazards, we are helping keep power on in the community and the property around our lines as safe as possible.
I wanted to make you aware that Duke Energy plans to conduct right of way work around our transmission electrical lines in the areas outlined on the attached maps. This tree maintenance work is scheduled to begin in late February, weather permitting and assuming no storms delay our efforts. The transmission lines serve both residential and commercial businesses. We hope to complete this work before the busy tourist season and before trees start to bud out, to minimize visual impact to citizens. These lines were last trimmed in 2015.
Duke Energy uses a technique called directional pruning to maintain the health of the tree while establishing acceptable clearance between energized wires and tree branches. This technique was developed by the National Arborist Association, approved by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI), and adopted by the pruning industry as its standard. It is endorsed and promoted by the National Arbor Day Foundation and the International Society of Arboriculture.
The easements obtained by Duke Energy grant it the right to clear any tree that poses a threat to the safety of the public and the reliable operation of the line. Trees that are dead, diseased or damaged, and are leaning toward the line are considered danger trees. Danger trees can be located inside or outside of the Duke Energy right of way. We are currently assessing impacted trees that have been identified as candidates for removal. Duke Energy employs a professional arborist charged with making these determinations; only trees already distressed or diseased, or those that would suffer irreparably from any necessary trimming, are recommended for removal. We recognize that tree trimming and removal can cause concern and frustration for some of our customers. We will do everything that we can to minimize the impact to property owners, while meeting our mandate to provide reliable service to the citizens of Carteret County and our customers across the Carolinas.
Impacted commercial customer include:
- NC Ports Morehead City
- Carteret Health Care
- Carteret County Health Department – Morehead City
- US Post Office
- Carteret Community College
- Town of Morehead City Offices
- Carteret County Office Complex – Beaufort
- Michael J Smith Airport
- Additional businesses in the area
This work should not require any outages, but serves as a notification of the work being done. The work should take about seven weeks to complete.
Before we start work on a customer’s property, we attempt to proactively contact the customer. If no one is at home, we will send a certified letter to the homeowner with contact information for the Duke Energy associate planning the work. This pre-notification will allow the customer to contact the Duke Energy associate/contractor directly on their cell phone should they have questions or concerns regarding the work being planned. The crews in the area will be from Burfords Tree.
Right of way information available at https://www.duke-energy.com/community/trees-and-rights-of-way