Notice to Invite Comments

PSC Documents re: Case 10-E-0155

PSC Order Instituting Proceedings

Notice to Invite Comments

From the PSC's Notice filing:

Comments are invited on the following questions:

1. Do the programs used by State utilities for transmission ROW vegetation management conform to industry best practices?

2. At what point, at what height, or under what circumstances should the trees be removed from the transmission ROW in order to protect the safety and reliability of the transmission system?

3. Are alternate or supplemental practices available which would reduce the environmental or aesthetic impacts of transmission ROW vegetation management without compromising transmission system safety or reliability?

4. If supplemental vegetation management practices are preferred by a community through which transmission ROW passes, how should the community preference for such practices be demonstrated? How should the costs of such practices be distributed to or divided among the utility which owns the transmission line, the ratepayers for that utility, the users of the transmission line, the community through which the transmission line passes, and the owners of properties adjacent to the transmission line?

5. In what ways can a utility mitigate the impact of its transmission ROW management practices without sacrificing electric system safety and reliability?

6. Are there cost effective strategies available to utilities to mitigate the aesthetic impacts of transmission ROW management?

7. Is cleanup after utility ROW management activities adequate?

8. What type of notifications regarding vegetation management do utilities currently employ? What type of notification by utilities would be most effective for landowners who live adjacent to a ROW prior to utility transmission ROW vegetation management work (for example: phone call, letter, newspaper, other)? When and how frequently should such notice be provided? Should others, besides adjacent property owners, be notified? What information should be provided in such notices?

9. Apart from such notices, what information should utilities provide to the owners of property adjacent to utility transmission ROW to suggest strategies or practices a landowner may use to protect his or her land from the aesthetic impacts of transmission ROW maintenance, and at what intervals and through whatshould this information be provided?