How can you make this job easier?
When planting trees on your property, you can help reduce the need for future vegetation control by choosing species that, as they grow, won’t encroah on medium-voltage power lines.
Debris removal: Which situation applies to you?
Hydro-Québec had to act quickly and prune my trees/my neighbor’s trees to restore service.
I’ve shared my safety concerns with Hydro-Québec, who assessed the risk to the power grid and agreed to take action.
Hydro-Québec has performed regular scheduled vegetation control on my trees/my neighbor’s trees.
Hydro-Québec has asked for my permission to fell a tree on my property that represents a high risk to the power grid. I’ve agreed to have it cut down.
Hydro-Québec or the company it has hired has clear-cut just about all the trees lining the roadway on both sides of the power line.
Depending on the situation or location, different types of work are done.
Pruning
Pruning involves cutting tree branches to ensure safe clearance around medium-voltage lines. Carried out mainly in developed environments (cities, suburbs, villages), pruning constitutes the bulk of Hydro-Québec’s vegetation control. The fact that it is minimally disruptive helps to preserve habitats and maintain biodiversity—for example, in urban or suburban woodlands and green areas. Nonetheless, pruning is a difficult, dangerous and costly operation that must be carefully planned. The interactive map When will we be in your area? shows you when work has been planned for where you live.
Clearing
This approach is reserved for forested areas. Clearing is a process that involves cutting taller trees down to ground level while maintaining low-growing vegetation that will not encroach on medium-voltage lines. This preserves a diversified plant cover that provides habitat for various animal species.
Each year, Hydro-Québec clears over 20,000 spans (a “span” is a section of an overhead line between two neighboring poles). The owner’s permission is required before the clearing can take place. Should the owner refuse, Hydro-Québec will prune the trees instead.
Clearing is carried out every six to twelve years.
Felling weakened trees
Trees that show signs of structural weakness (partially uprooted trees, trees damaged in a storm, etc.) and are in danger of falling on distribution lines are cut down (felled).
Whenever a tree poses a high risk to the power system, Hydro-Québec will ask the owner for permission to cut it down. Owners who refuse should know that some Hydro-Québec customers may suffer damages as a result of outages caused by the tree or its branches falling onto the power lines. Dispatching a line crew to restore electricity service typically costs thousands of dollars . . . and Hydro-Québec could claim the costs from the owner. That’s why we advise owners to check with their insurer and see if they’re covered for civil liability in such cases.
How is the debris managed?
How debris (tree trimmings, branches, foliage) is managed will differ depending on whether the operation was unscheduled—i.e., due to an outage, weather event, accident, potential hazard, etc.—or just part of routine vegetation control.
For unscheduled operations
Following major weather events like wind, snow or freezing rain, as well as any other sort of incident resulting in an outage, Hydro-Québec will prune or cut down trees as needed to restore power promptly and safely and prevent further outages.
Hydro-Québec or an arborist hired by the company will carry out the work at no charge to the tree’s owner; however, the owner is responsible for disposing of the resulting debris.
Tree owners can dispose of the debris in a number of ways: by using it as fuel, hauling it to an eco-center or preparing it for collection by the municipality, as per the regulations in effect.
For scheduled operations
When vegetation control (pruning, clearing or felling) has been planned by Hydro-Québec as part of power grid maintenance operations and/or to mitigate the risk or frequency of outages, then how the debris is handled will differ based on whether the tree is merchantable, ornamental or another variety.
Merchantable wood
On municipal or provincial land, wood that has commercial value (merchantable wood) is treated in line with an agreement made with the municipality or the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts. Otherwise, it is trimmed minimally and left on the ground, and may be collected by the property owner.
Ornamental trees
A tree is considered ornamental if it is part of a landscaping design or is grown for other aesthetic or functional reasons (e.g., windbreaks, visual or sound barriers).
Its debris is chipped and collected at no cost to the owner by Hydro-Québec or an arborist hired by Hydro-Québec, then disposed of at a recognized recovery center.
All other trees
For non-ornamental and non-merchantable species such as roadside trees, the clearing width is greater. Trimmings are left where they are, either spread over the ground or piled in small mounds known as windrows.
This work is carried out by a company hired by Hydro-Québec at no cost to tree owners. The rules that apply to processing these trees are the same for all customers.
In applying these measures, Hydro-Québec achieves substantial savings, since recovering and disposing of tree trimmings can account for nearly half the total cost of clearing the power lines and safeguarding the network. Hydro-Québec also makes a sustained effort to protect plants and wildlife in the immediate vicinity of its equipment.
