Engineering justification for tree trimming [power system maintenance]

Tree-trimming programs are labor intensive and expensive. Most utilities, nevertheless, prescribe some form of tree trimming program, if for no other reason than to reduce possible outages during severe weather conditions. Other problems, however, may exist which are not normally considered as reasons for initiating a tree-trimming program. These are potentially dangerous touch and step voltages which may exist at the base of a tree that has contacted an energized circuit. To the best of the author´s knowledge, there has never been an exact study to address this issue. This paper is an attempt to fill this void. It shows that hazardous conditions can indeed exist around trees that have been energized by a high voltage circuit