Tim Curtis
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report

About two weeks ago, a large dead tree fell across some of the NOTL Hydro power lines on Four Mile Creek Road. Fortunately, the power lines were not damaged and the tree had sufficiently dried out that a fault did not occur.

NOTL Hydro crews were able to limit the outage needed to remove the tree to fewer than 100 customers and only around about three minutes by switching some of the feeder lines.

This April 30 incident was the fourth such outage caused by a dead tree falling on our lines in this area. The previous outages were much more disruptive, with thousands of customers without power for much longer periods of time.

Due to the emerald ash borer, there are many more tall dead trees around than normal. As these trees weaken, they are at an increased risk of falling and causing outages.

NOTL Hydro has tried to reduce this risk by boosting its tree-trimming budget by 50 per cent this year and doing in the tree trimming during the first quarter. We also have been working closely with the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and the Niagara Region, which are proactively taking down the dead trees on their properties.  

But we can only trim trees around our lines and the town and region can only remove trees on their public rights-of-way. Trees on private property are the responsibility of the property owner. 

Hydro recognizes that having a tree removed by a professional arborist is not cheap and can cost thousands of dollars, depending on the size and location of the tree. This cost should be compared to the potential cost if the tree falls and damages someone’s property, including NOTL Hydro-owned power lines.  

Our utility traditionally has not charged for the cost of repairing damage caused by a fallen tree. However, it is something that is being considered in the case of a property owner who does not take the appropriate actions if they have been asked to do so. 

The vast majority of property owners do not want to be the cause of an outage and they work with us to remove any dangers. Unfortunately, there are always exceptions.

On a more positive note, if you have concerns with the potential danger from a tree on your property, feel free to give us a call at 905-468-4235. 

We will not remove the tree and we are not arborists, but we may be able to provide you some guidance about the risk to our power lines and what needs to be done.

NOTL Hydro is fully aware that the number of outages has been much higher than normal, starting last summer. Increasing the tree-trimming budget and activity is one of the actions being taken to try to reduce outages. 

We are also accelerating the program to replace some of our older equipment, like porcelain insulators and overloaded transformers. Some of the outage causes (car accidents, lightning, loss of supply from Hydro One) are beyond our control. 

For these, we are increasing our investments in switching and reclosing technologies that help reduce the length of an outage.

Tim Curtis is president and CEO of NOTL Hydro.