AEP Hazard Tree Removal
Transmission corridor vegetation clearing
Quick Facts
Location
Multiple States
Role
Prime Contractor
Completion Date
May 2022
Project Overview
American Electric Power (AEP) developed and implemented the Transmission Vegetation Management Program to ensure compliance with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standard FAC-003-4. ROW fall-ins are one of the top reasons for outages across AEP transmission lines, and the program is designed to maintain a reliable electric transmission system by employing a defense-in-depth strategy to manage vegetation located adjacent to the ROW.
Phillips' hazard tree removal program focuses on off-the-ROW hazard trees, which are managed, patrolled, and cut by Phillips. This enables AEP to receive program updates and monitor program progress from a single source, rather than multiple contractors. Phillips' start-to-finish program has enabled AEP foresters to focus on ROW compliance issues and maintenance work instead. AEP can utilize its foresters again, while Phillips focuses on off-ROW hazards. AEP identified that off-ROW fall-ins were one of their number one reasons for outages across AEP transmission lines. Phillips' work in identifying and removing these hazard trees from the right-of-way (ROW) will provide AEP and its customers with a safer and more reliable transmission grid.
Project Highlights
17,839
Trees Identified & Marked
113,369
Trees Removed
8,333
Miles of Transmission Line Inspected
6,713
Miles Completed for Full Scope
500
Personnel on the Project
417
Pieces of Equipment
Phillips Contribution
Phillips' Vegetation Reliability Team is providing pre-inspection listing, auditing, and cutting danger trees across three regions and eleven states within the northeastern and central United States, along 35,000 miles of ROW within AEP’s existing overhead line network. The eleven states include the East Region (Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia), the North Region (Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio), and the South Region (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas). The project encompasses a total of 35,180 miles of existing transmission lines, ranging in voltage from 23 kV to 765 kV.
Skilled Phillips hazard tree inspectors are patrolling AEP’s ROWs to identify and tag hazard trees. Any tree that can strike AEP facilities is evaluated by inspectors for health, growth defects, or any other underlying issues that make the tree a hazard to the facilities. P&J then imports the information into customized tree data collection software that utilizes GPS to map all identified hazard trees. After hazards are identified, Phillips tree crews use a series of techniques and forestry equipment to remove them, and P&J inspectors audit the tree work to confirm it has been completed to meet the specifications outlined in AEP’s forestry program.
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