With the holiday season in full swing, the early birds among us have our Christmas trees up and decorated, while some of us are making plans to put them up. Others prefer to leave the trees outside and enjoy their beauty through the window. One thing is nearly universal for Oregonians, we love our trees. Whether you cheer for the Ducks or the Beavers, they both love our trees, too. The Oregon Beavers remind us of our unique forest home and the livelihood it provides. The brilliant green background of the Oregon Ducks represents the lush beauty of our forested hills and mountains.

At Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, we love our trees and forests, but it can be a love-hate relationship at times. With more than 1,200 miles of overhead power lines running through mountainous forests, trees are the biggest threat to local power system reliability. Vegetation management within our power line rights of way consumes about 7% of CCEC’s gross revenue. That means $7 of every $100 you pay on your power bill goes to ROW clearing and danger tree removal.

ROW clearing removes only vegetation within about 15 feet of either side of the power lines. We all know our majestic fir, spruce and cedar trees tower to heights much greater than 15 feet. So, the threat is always present that trees from outside the ROW will topple onto power lines, causing outages and significant damage. CCEC’s ROW clearing program protects the power lines quite well during the months of mild weather. That’s not the case during winter storm season.

As the winter rains descend and the fierce coastal winds blow, our beautiful forest home can become dangerous and unpredictable. That is when the massive trees growing adjacent to CCEC power lines pose the biggest threat to reliable operation of the power system. This means we should all be prepared to manage our lives in the wake of an unplanned power outage. Often, CCEC crews restore power within a few hours. However, severe storms can translate to severe damage to the power system, requiring several hours to a day or more to restore power across the entire system.

While you are enjoying the festivities of the season, I encourage you to prepare for the inevitable unplanned power outage. When the next big storm blows, toppling one of our beloved trees across the power line that serves your house, hopefully your biggest worry will be missing a Ducks or Beavers game.

Brent Bischoff
General Manager and CEO
Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative