Jim Shella: We can find common ground for trees, power lines

I love trees. I also love electricity. Those two things sometimes come into conflict.

Let me explain.

My home is on a lot that is one-third of an acre. When I bought it, there were 10 or 11 trees in the yard. It now has 25. And I have removed several of them over the years. So, you see, I like trees and have planted a few.

I have a crab apple, several maples, a clump birch, two cherries, multiple redbuds, three dogwoods, a Japanese maple, and, well, you get it.

Some of those trees are tall enough to pose a threat to power lines. And that is where conflict comes in. My neighborhood has experienced frequent power outages prompted by storms that cause tree damage. I have endured an outage caused by trees belonging to my neighbor directly to the north and by trees belonging to my neighbor directly to the south. My trees and I have not been the cause of any outages.

However, my fear of joining that club is one reason why I spent $2,000 on a tree service this spring so that three of my tallest trees were trimmed—or, in one case, removed. See, I am the guy who complains about neighbors waiting for the power company to trim trees for them. My dad owned a small power company, and in high school and college, I worked on a tree-trimming crew at times. One day, I witnessed a fellow worker getting shocked when a branch fell on a high voltage line. I get the big picture.

Yet, as fate would have it, several weeks after I paid to have my trees trimmed, I got word that the power company had targeted several of my trees, anyway. Wright Tree Service, a contractor for electric utility AES, sent people to mark some of my trees and let me know that tree trimmers were on
the way.

They gave me a month to object, and I saw on social media that many people in this part of town were complaining both about the idea that their trees were a problem and about the quality of the work being done by the tree trimmers.

I also caught news reports that spelled out how AES blamed tree-trimming costs in part for a rate increase request that would hike the average residential electric bill by $21 a month.

I’m not going to defend that request, but I will say that when the tree trimmers showed up, they did a lot of work. Over the course of two days, they trimmed six of my trees. They took out a lot of lumber and did nothing to alter the shape of the trees. They did a lot more work in the surrounding neighborhood.

If all that means that power outages will be less frequent, I might be willing to pay more for electricity. Twenty-one dollars a month sounds high, especially after a rate increase last year, but I’m going to let the Utility Regulatory Commission figure that out. Still, for the first time in years, I get the feeling that AES is trying.

I want to be able to enjoy the blossoms, the shade and the fall leaves in my backyard. And I want to be able to watch TV when I go inside.

I love trees, and I love electricity.•

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Shella hosted WFYI’s “Indiana Week in Review” for 25 years and covered Indiana politics for WISH-TV for more than three decades. Send comments to [email protected].

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