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A single overgrown branch near power lines sparks wildfire, blacks out a city, or can even burn down a critical transformer creating serious hazards. Utility Vegetation Management (UVM) is essential to prevent power outages, wildfires, and regulatory violations making thorough inspections critical.
U.S. utilities spend nearly $10 billion annually on vegetation management activities to ensure grid reliability and power outages alone are costing businesses around $150 billion per year.
For utility companies, vegetation management and inspections don’t just protect power lines. They safeguard assets like poles, substations, and transformers. They keep the power flowing and communities safe.
However, some utilities still rely on outdated methods, paper-based forms, disconnected data sources, and slow reporting, leading to inefficiencies, compliance risks, and increased costs. That’s where modern vegetation management software plays a significant role.
This guide covers the step-by-step process of UVM inspections and explains how a utility vegetation management software like KYRO simplifies fieldwork, improves data accuracy, and helps utilities manage both vegetation and reliability of the power grids more effectively.
Utilities spend around $6-8 billion a year on vegetation management.
Before heading into the field, thorough preparation is required for an efficient and compliant UVM inspection. You need to identify high-risk areas where vegetation threatens power lines, transmission towers, and distribution poles. You’d also need to factor weather data, past outages, and compliance rules from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
Based on regulations from FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation), and state-level Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), utilities must define their scope for inspections which is complex to follow.
Factors such as transmission voltage, right-of-way (ROW) width, and proximity to critical infrastructure determine which areas need priority attention. But with most utilities leaning on rigid annual schedules, seasonal pruning, and dusty file cabinets of outage logs, it all becomes a nightmare to get the pre-planning done.
A vegetation management software helps you get this done in the simplest way.
Overgrown vegetation causes 45.8%-63.8% of outages in low-severity storms, making field observation a frontline defense.
Once on-site, the primary goal is to assess vegetation conditions and identify potential threats to powerlines and infrastructures. This involves identifying tree species, measuring clearance distances, assessing growth rates, and noting other environmental factors such as wind exposure and soil conditions.
Vegetation inspectors often rely on dated paper forms, handwritten notes, and manual sketches for these tasks. They don’t have access to historical vegetation issues, or the previous treatments given to the trees on the ground level. This leads to inconsistent data, delayed reporting, and making them prone to errors. And a few inspectors that have modernized their visual assessment approach with drone surveys and using LiDAR (Light detection and ranging) have paper forms, data silos, and inconsistent reporting that results in inefficiency and higher operational cost. They still don’t have a real-time view of the vegetation threats.
Read more: A beginner’s guide to utility vegetation management software
NERC fines can hit $1 million per day per violation for poor clearance documentation.
Once inspections are completed, the next step is to analyze the data and prioritize mitigation efforts. determine which vegetation threats require immediate action versus those that can be scheduled for routine maintenance. This prioritization process is critical for maintaining grid reliability while managing costs effectively.
Not all vegetation poses the same level of risk or danger. Misclassification can lead to unnecessary trimming costs or overlooked hazards. Without any standardized assessment criteria, crews may either trim unnecessarily, driving up costs, or fail to address a high-risk encroachment that could lead to outages or safety risks.
And coordinating these mitigation efforts across multiple teams, contractors, and regulatory bodies adds complexity, making it difficult to ensure that the highest-priority risks are addressed first.
Once work orders are assigned, crews must execute vegetation removal, trimming, or treatment. This step involves determining the best approach, whether it is manual trimming, mechanical removal, or herbicide application, while ensuring minimal disruption to infrastructure and surrounding ecosystems.
Crews must also coordinate access to difficult terrain, manage traffic control in urban areas, mobilize special equipment and trucks, and work within permitted timeframes to avoid regulatory penalties.
Vegetation management crews must work closely with utilities, third-party contractors, and regulatory agencies to ensure that tree trimming, and removal activities comply with industry standards such as ANSI A300 Pruning Standards and ISA Best Management Practices. The challenge is balancing safety, cost, and environmental factors while preventing service disruptions.
In some cases, crews must obtain special permits to remove protected species or work in environmentally sensitive areas. Poor documentation or miscommunication between teams lead to costly delays, non-compliance fines, or incomplete work, increasing overall risk to the power grid.
Once fieldwork is done, document everything for regulatory audits and internal records. This includes recording vegetation conditions, trimming activities, clearance measurements, and any mitigation actions taken.
Proper documentation is crucial not only for regulatory audits but also for tracking long-term vegetation growth trends, optimizing future maintenance cycles, and defending against liability claims in case of service disruptions or wildfire incidents. Reports must be standardized, timestamped, and easily accessible for quick reference during compliance reviews.
Regulatory bodies, such as NERC, FERC, and state-level PUCs, mandate that utilities maintain detailed records of all vegetation management activities to ensure compliance with safety and reliability standards.
Inspectors and field crews must meticulously document their work, but relying on manual data entry, spreadsheets, or paper-based reports increases the risk of errors, inconsistencies, and missing information. And when audits occur, retrieving specific records can be time-consuming, leading to compliance risks, potential fines, or delays in regulatory approval for future projects.
Utility Vegetation Management is not just about cutting back trees. It’s about protecting communities, preventing costly outages, and ensuring the long-term reliability of the power grid. A well-executed UVM program requires precision, coordination, and real-time insights to mitigate risks effectively while maintaining compliance with stringent regulations. Inspections must be thorough, data-driven, and seamlessly integrated with asset management.
KYRO changes the way utilities approach vegetation management by providing real-time data visibility, AI-driven risk assessments, and predictive analytics that enable proactive decision-making. It eliminates inefficiencies, reduces operational costs, and helps utilities stay ahead of potential threats before they escalate into outages or regulatory violations.
By integrating KYRO into your vegetation management strategy, utilities can enhance grid reliability, proactively address vegetation threats, and ensure regulatory compliance, ultimately safeguarding both infrastructure and the communities they serve.
Schedule a demo today and take your UVM inspections to the next level of precision.