Vegetation Management
Learn how we manage trees and vegetation to keep your power safe and reliable, and where we're working this year. Find tips on what — and where — to plant near power lines to help prevent outages and ensure safety.
Vegetation Management
The ability to provide reliable electric service along with the safety of our employees and members are very important to Great Lakes Energy. In order to achieve both, we must maintain our equipment and power line rights-of-way through a variety of practices, including vegetation management. View our Vegetation Management brochure for more information.
Trees are the most common cause of power outages for Great Lakes Energy members. To achieve greater reliability for our members, our Vegetation Management department performs routine maintenance of trees and other vegetation on more than 11,000 miles of overhead lines.
Routine vegetation management activities are completed on a regular cycle of approximately every seven years.
How Much Will Be Trimmed?
The amount of space required for overhead electric line clearance is determined by the Rural Utility Service and also by the species of tree and voltage of the line. Sometimes it is better to remove a tree than to prune it drastically, although each tree is evaluated individually. Our professional, certified contractors perform tree pruning and removal for Great Lakes Energy. Please do not attempt to prune a tree yourself if it’s under or near an overhead line.
2025 Counties and Townships Scheduled
North Region Details
Antrim County: Banks, Central Lake, Custer, Echo, Forest Home, Helena, Kearny, Mancelona
Charlevoix: Chandler, Hudson
Cheboygan: Wilmot
Emmet: Friendship, Readmond, West Traverse
Kalkaska: Cold Spring, Excelsior, Rapid River
Montmorency: Vienna
Otsego: Bagley, Chester, Charlton, Corwith, Dover, Elmira, Hayes, Livingston
South Region Details
Allegan: Gun Plain, Martin, Otsego, Watson
Kent: Nelson, Solon, Tyrone
Lake County: Chase, Dover, Ellsworth
Mason: Amber, Custer, East Grant, Freesoil, Hamlin, Pere Marquette, Sherman, Victory, West Grant
Mecosta: Aetna, Grant, Green
Muskegon: Casnovia
Newaygo County: Ashland, Barton, Big Prairie, Denver, Ensley, Everett, Garfield, Grant, Sherman, Troy
Oceana County: Benona, Colfax, Golden, Hart, Leavitt, Newfield, Shelby
Osceola County: Burdell, Hersey, LeRoy, Richmond, Sherman
Clearing the Way for Reliability
Hear first hand from our employees what we do and why to ensure your electric service is reliable and safe.
Proper Planting
To ensure proper planting, only plant trees with a mature height of 14 ft. or less in areas within 20 ft. of overhead power lines. Trees that have a mature height of 40 ft. or less should be planted at least 20 ft. from power lines. Trees with a mature height of 40 ft. or more can be planted at least 45 ft. away from power lines.
For more information on proper planting, visit the National Arbor Day Foundation.
Call Before You Dig
Before you dig, be safe and always call Miss Dig to protect yourself from harm. Utility personnel will come to your property and place flags in the ground in locations where underground wires run. There is no charge for this service. Dial 8-1-1, or go to missdig.org.
