The Austin City Council has approved a contract extension worth up to $28 million for tree trimming and vegetation management around Austin Energy's electrical distribution lines. The extension will last until the end of 2024 and is intended to address the depletion of funds from existing contracts, due to rate adjustments and multiple weather events.
As stated in an Austin Energy press release, the contract extension involves Austin Energy's primary tree trimming partners - Asplundh Tree Expert LLC, Davey Tree Surgery Co., and Wright Tree Service, Inc. This additional funding will assist Austin Energy in its efforts to ensure public safety, mitigate wildfire risks, and protect the utility's infrastructure, thereby ensuring uninterrupted service to customers.
"Austin Energy greatly appreciates the City Council’s continued support of the utility’s tree trimming efforts," said Elton Richards, Austin Energy Vice President of Electrical System Field Operations, in the release. "We’ve added additional crews within the initial budget to ensure that we meet our timeline commitments and increase reliability for our community."
The release also states that Austin Energy has set a goal to bring all 305 of its circuits back to industry tree trimming standards by the end of 2028, with plans for a new five-year maintenance cycle. These circuits vary in length from under a mile to nearly 40 miles and help maintain an uninterrupted power supply across Austin's 437-square-mile service area.
According to the release, the Vegetation Management team at Austin Energy oversees approximately 5,000 miles of overhead lines. This effort helps reduce fire incidents and power outages while ensuring the functionality of the electrical grid. Despite challenges posed by labor shortages and complex trimming windows in 2023, Richards' team trimmed 27 circuits covering 180 miles of lines.
As per his bio on The Org, Richards joined Austin Energy in 2019. As Vice President of Electrical System Field Operations, he is responsible for leading the utility’s distribution, transmission, substation, and metering operations.