Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is investing £25 million annually to manage vegetation around its 40,000 miles of overhead cables across southern England, according to a BBC report.
With climate change lengthening growing seasons, the risk of tree-related power cuts is rising.
SSEN, which serves 3.1 million customers across Hampshire, Dorset, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and the Isle of Wight, says tree growth has accelerated since 2021 and is likely to continue increasing.
“We’re experiencing larger growth,” said Russell Turner, Resource & Scheduling Manager at SSEN. “We need to cut more to stay on top.”
To address this, SSEN surveys every line span— the distance between poles— every three years.
In the past two years alone, they inspected 190,000 spans (about 9,500 miles), identifying 114,000 requiring vegetation clearance.
While drones and Lidar (type of radar) are used, much of the work is done on foot.
Line walkers walk up to 20,000 steps daily to inspect terrain, spot hazards and liaise with landowners.
Utility arborists then remove trees along entire circuits, sometimes spending weeks on a single stretch.
SSEN’s efforts have already seen a 20% reduction in power cuts over the past year. But challenges remain, from land access refusals to avoiding nesting birds and working around crops.
