Privately-owned trees a problem for power outage prevention

Maritime Electric, P.E.I.'s main electric utility, says one of the biggest issues it faces trying to keep the power on during a storm is people not wanting their trees cut down.

Company spokesperson Kim Griffin said trees on lines caused a lot of the outages during post-tropical storm Dorian.

The company does constant vegetation management, or tree trimming, to try to keep lines safe, but Griffin said sometimes property owners don't want their trees cut.

"It's important for people to realize it's not that we're anti tree in any way, shape or form, but it is causing more problems with power outages," she said.

Griffin said the company is looking at doing more education around planting trees away from power lines, or recommending people plant varieties that don't grow very high.

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