Clearing the Way for Reliability

Clearing the Way for Reliability

Maine is 95% forested, which is part of what makes it so unique—and one of the biggest challenges when it comes to delivering reliable electric service. Along with maintaining poles and wires, managing the trees around our system is essential to keeping the lights on.

At Versant Power, the work we do to trim and remove trees plays a critical role in delivering safe, reliable service to our customers. Over the past several years, this work has evolved significantly, becoming a more strategic and data-driven effort focused on reducing outages and strengthening system performance.

Versant’s vegetation efforts began a major transition in 2018, with continued expansion of our internal team in 2021. Since then, we’ve moved beyond a one-size-fits-all approach by introducing new programs, processes, and partnerships that allow us to better manage the unique challenges across our service territory. Today, the program includes a dedicated internal team, multiple specialized contractors, dozens of field crews that vary seasonally, and custom-built vegetation management software to support planning and execution.

A More Proactive Approach

One of the biggest shifts in our approach is a focus on being proactive instead of reactive. Our goal is simple: anticipate and address vegetation risks before they impact customers. Through structured maintenance cycles, targeted tree removal, and advanced planning, we aim to ensure that approximately 95% of our work is proactive, helping prevent outages before they happen.

“Maintaining safe clearance across our system is no small task. Each year, our teams maintain roughly 2,500 miles of line, while also responding to a little over a thousand vegetation-related service orders from customers, identifying and mitigating ~4,000 risk trees, yearly substation maintenance, 1,200 miles of distribution herbicide application and capital improvement projects tied to vegetation risk.”

Programs Working Together

Our strategy includes several targeted programs that work together to improve reliability and safety. Routine cycle maintenance programs use industry standard pruning techniques to achieve proper   clearance around our infrastructure. . The Risk Tree Program focuses on identifying and mitigating trees that pose a threat, even if they appear healthy. Service and secondary maintenance address localized concerns such as line contact and deflection. In addition, our herbicide program helps manage incompatible vegetation in rights-of-way to support long-term system performance.

Technology and strong partnerships are key to making this work successful. Our custom vegetation management software allows us to better track work, prioritize risk, and ensure quality across all crews. Combined with rigorous quality verification standards and trusted contractor partnerships, this approach helps ensure that every mile of work meets our expectations and supports our customers.

Vegetation will always be one of the leading causes of power outages, but with the right strategy, it is also one of the most manageable. At Versant Power, we are continuing to invest in smarter, more proactive vegetation management, because reliability doesn’t just happen. It is built, maintained, and strengthened every day.