Flathead Electric trims trees near power lines in Bigfork area

Crews with Flathead Electric Co-op will be trimming trees along Montana 35 for the next several months as part of routine maintenance efforts to reduce hazards near power lines. Every 10 years, five three-man crews work their way down the co-op’s 1,700 miles of primary line to trim back trees within 10 feet of power lines. They aim to trim along approximately 160 miles of line per year.

“Any trees that are making contact with the line can be energized,” Right-of-Way Supervisor Amanda Opp explained. “We want to keep from having load loss on the line ... It costs members money. A tree branch is sort of like a rock in the river that diverts water away — what it does is it diverts power away.”

In addition to cutting trees that are encroaching on existing lines, workers will also be removing dead or hazardous trees, like ones that may have been uprooted during the past year’s many windstorm events.

“Everytime we have another one of these windstorms, the system is already weakened, and we see more trees go down,” she said.

Opp cautioned property owners to stay on top of tree maintenance as things “can go downhill really fast” and to be mindful of where they plant new trees so that years down the line, the mature tree doesn’t interfere with existing utilities.

“It can seem such a little thing today that becomes a big tree 20-25 years from now,” she added.

The section of upcoming maintenance along Flathead Lake includes some of the most challenging terrain in the co-op’s service area.

“There's some areas south of Woods Bay where it's just a cliff that goes into the lake and above there is another rocky cliff. Our lines go through there,” Opp said.

The difficulty for crews in those situations is that they have to work from the road and divert traffic around them since there isn't space for them to pull off safely and operate from.

Work began last March and will continue on Montana 35 until September, most likely, Opp said. In the next month, they plan to work behind Papa’s Market in Woods Bay and on small roads that connect to Montana 35.

Tree trimming work will continue in the Bigfork area over the next two years east of town in Ferndale and along both the eastern and western sides of Swan Lake.

A portion of rates go towards this upkeep, which Opp said helps keep rates low in the long run. In a May 3 news release, the co-op announced that there would not be a rate increase for the third year running. However the cooperative board of trustees did improve a net-neutral change that will decrease the amount billed for each kilowatt hour by 2.2% and increase what’s known as the demand charge -- a fee for power used during peak hours. This change was made in response to an increase in cost for peak usage power from wholesale power provider Bonneville Power Administration, the release stated.

“Some residential members will see their bills decrease since it costs the co-op less to serve them power. Likewise, members with a higher demand during peak hours could see a slight increase in their bills. With this change, most residential members’ bills will decrease or increase by less than two percent, depending on how they use electricity,” the release stated.

Peak usage times include weekdays from 7-10 a.m. and 5-8 p.m. Weekends and major holidays are not included.