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Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI) is dedicated to conducting its business activities with respect and care for the environment. Simply put, our challenge is to satisfy energy demand efficiently with minimal environmental impact.
In meeting this challenge, PHI's electrical power transmission rights-of-way are managed with attention to the rich environmental resources they provide. Our vegetation management program is a key component of our regard for the environment.
Key facts about vegetation management
- Nationwide, electric utilities own and manage thousands of miles of rights-of-way, upon which electric transmission and distribution lines and access roads are sited.
- Trees and other vegetation near power lines must be properly maintained to avoid service interruptions caused by plants growing through or falling on lines.
- PHI utilities work in partnership with federal, state and local agencies on vegetation management strategies that minimize the overall impact on people and the environment.
- Common vegetation management practices used by PHI utilities include aerial inspection and targeted brush control and grass mowing.
- PHI employs system foresters who are certified arborists to administer the vegetation management program.
So...how do the PHI utilities protect natural habitat near their transmission lines?
PHI strives to:
- Use native plant species in re-vegetation projects
- Enhance and protect local plant and animal habitat
- Limit introduction and control the spread of non-native invasive species or harmful weeds in the rights-of-way and adjacent lands
PHI's forestry program has received the 2008 International Habitat Conservation Award. The award, which is given each year by the Wildlife Habitat Council, recognizes companies for their commitment to environmental stewardship and promotion of biodiversity. PHI demonstrates this commitment by achieving habitat recertification of its approximately 1,200 miles of transmission line rights-of-way by:
- Developing a meadow management program to reduce high-growing vegetation under power lines and cultivate a low-profile shrub and scrub plant community that is both beneficial to wildlife habitat and compatible with safe and reliable electric service
- Implementing enhancement projects to stabilize stream banks and prevent erosion and sedimentation by planting low-growing trees and shrubs
- Preserving natural bogs by selectively cutting tall woody plants and removing invasive species
- Encouraging natural generation of wildflower meadows that are monitored and maintained by spot-treatments