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Santee Cooper owns and operates distribution and transmission lines that traverse both residential (urban) and rural areas throughout South Carolina. Providing safe, reliable power is our primary goal. By effectively managing right-of-way vegetation, Santee Cooper can pass on the benefits of this goal to our customers.
To manage right-of-way vegetation, Santee Cooper uses an approach called Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM). IVM employs a variety of management tools to control troublesome vegetation in a way that is safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible. Large trees that conflict with the power lines are controlled by directional pruning and/or removal, which is performed by professional tree care specialists. Closer to the ground, troublesome brush is controlled by manual or mechanical cutting, as well as by selective application of herbicides in low, regulated volumes. Tree growth regulators (TGR's) are sometimes used to reduce the growth rates of fast-growing trees. Santee Cooper's vegetation managers integrate these management tools to achieve the desired results, while maintaining a strong commitment to environmental stewardship.
Whether the lines belong to distribution or transmission power systems, our goals are the same:
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 Pruning and removing trees near power lines are essential right-of-way maintenance activities that ensure system reliability. They can also be very dangerous. Only qualified line clearance professionals should attempt to work around trees that are growing too close to electric power lines. Santee Cooper's line clearance contractors have years of experience in the business of utility arboriculture.
Before you crank up the chainsaw or hoist a pole pruner into your shade tree, be certain that all parts of the tree are safe distances from the power lines. And be certain that you know precisely what you are doing. If you have any doubt, contact a tree care professional or your local utility company for assistance.
At Santee Cooper, we work around the clock to provide reliable electric service at some of the lowest rates in the nation. When trees come into contact with power lines, power outages can occur. Our vegetation management activities continue year-round and follow repetitive management cycles that help us reduce the risk of tree-related outages and provide reliable service to our customers.
 One of the benefits of IVM is to create biological communities within utility corridors that support a diversity of plant and wildlife species. By selectively targeting troublesome vegetation, leaving grasses, forbs, and shrubs to grow, wildflowers and butterflies can thrive along with small mammals and birds that seek places to feed, nest, and hide from predators.
Besides managing vegetation for these values, Santee Cooper also supports research projects and habitat restoration programs that help promote biological diversity within utility corridors.
 When power is interrupted, Santee Cooper works immediately to restore electric service as quickly as possible. Whether an outage is caused by a defective tree that falls silently in the night, or by a violent hurricane that batters our community, a critical element of our restoration effort is our ability to access our facilities and get to work. Uncontrolled vegetative growth in a right-of-way can severely restrict our restoration efforts. On the other hand, with clear access to and along power lrights-of-way, we are better able to identify problems and restore power in a timely manner.
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