BRISTOL, Conn. — Power outages seem to occur more in Southern New England compared to previous years. These frequent power outages are due to trees falling on power lines during storms. Eversource is launching a new program to work together with community leaders on the impact trees are having in their city or town.
Known as the tree "scorecard," arborists are breaking down the number of tree-related outages, the roads blocked by fallen trees in the last five years, and the planned miles of tree trimming this year.
"This is brand new," says Sean Redding, manager of vegetation management for Eversource.
"We've developed this scorecard to provide more information to the towns... this is not just an impact to reliability and our customers, but also to first responders," Redding adds.
Raymond Rogozinski, director of public works in Bristol, says "the real value is communication with municipalities," as it gives a better sense of the impact trees and trimming is having on the grid.
The difference between urban and suburban communities is clear on the scorecards.
In Hartford, for example, 17 percent of outages in 2021 were tree-related.
In a suburban, more forested town like Avon, trees were responsible for more than 40 percent.
Redding says Eversource contacts about 400,000 customers annually about plans to trim trees. There are approximately 1,000 to 1,500 refusals per year, a small percentage, but with potentially big impacts if the tree in question causes an outage.
The scorecards have been released to the 149 communities Eversource serves. They can be published online or shared through each municipality.
Ryan Breton is a meteorologist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at rbreton@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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