Despite a significant investment in their tree trimming program NB Power says we shouldn’t be surprised when the power goes out during winter storms.
Spokesperson Meghan Gerrish says while they clear eight feet along the right of ways, in a mostly rural province there are many trees to take care of.
“And these trees that come down are significantly taller and they can come in from outside of the right of way so it’s something that we have to deal with everytime there’s a heavy wet snow or freezing rain event,” says Gerrish.
She says while they’ve made great progress in tree trimming over the last few years and are seeing results in certain areas of the province it is an ongoing process.
Gerrish adds there are 27,000 kilometres of power lines and 500,000 poles in the province, most of them in heavily wooded areas which makes maintenance a significant challenge in New Brunswick.
When asked about the possibility of burying power lines, Gerrish said she didn’t know all the details, but suggested the cost would be prohibitive and may not provide as big a payoff as the public might assume.
