WFEC clears the way for service
You might think West Florida Electric Cooperative’s largest operating expenses in providing electric service are the machinery or equipment, or even the labor, involved. However, WFEC also must wage a constant -- and costly -- battle against Mother Nature to ensure you receive the most reliable electric service possible .
Keep powerlines clear of limbs and foliage is essential for preventing outages and power drainage on WFEC’s lines. Fallen limbs are responsible for a significant share of outages that occur, and limbs in contact with lines can drain power from them, causing blinking clocks, flickering lights and even low voltage. More importantly, trees touching or near energized lines create a hazard for people and animals.
Because WFEC serves rural customers, its lines often run through wooded areas that require regular trimming. In contrast, utilities that serve more populated areas bear a much lighter financial load for right-of-way maintenance because they have far less vegetation to clear.
WFEC’s entire right-of-way is trimmed on a four- to five-year rotation. For maximum cost effectiveness, WFEC performs some portions of right-of-way maintenance in-house while utilizing contractors for other aspects. For instance, WFEC’s right-of-way crew keeps the areas under the lines mown and performs "hot spotting," or removal of limbs that are touching a line, while contractors trim the lines overhead and, in some areas, apply herbicides to kill woody plants under lines while leaving the natural grasses and flowers.
The substation serving WFEC’s customers in the Campbellton area recently has been sprayed, and the substations and primary lines in Alford, Bonifay, Grand Ridge, Westville and south of Chipley also will be trimmed sprayed in the next couple of years. WFEC also is contracting for trimming of the trees along 1,750 miles of line over the next two years. To reduce future need for right-of-way maintenance, WFEC urges customers to consider the location of nearby power lines before planting trees or shrubs, whether for landscaping or timber.
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