Who’s Checking Your Tree Crews?

Do You Really Want the Fox Counting the Hens?

It is estimated that utility companies, investor owned, municipalities, and cooperatives can spend as much as $600,000 on just one tree-trimming project alone! That’s a significant amount of money by any standard.

For that kind of money it’s critically important to have an independent group (other than the tree-trimming company) monitor the process to ensure that 1) the work is completed to specifications 2) the job is completed efficiently and 3) the utility company is paying only for work that is actually done.

At ACRT, we do all of that and more.

“We act with the utility company’s money in mind, making sure that the work is done right and according to specifications,” said Tim Lawyer, an ACRT utility forester auditor based in Nashville, Tenn. “We check for things like proper pruning techniques, sufficient clearance, and herbicide treatment of cut trees and brush. We treat the utility company’s money like it was ours – we want to ensure that they’re paying the tree trimming contractors for the correct work.”

ACRT and its national staff of certified arborists, like Lawyer, ensure that there is accountability when they provide the tree-trimming vendor with a detailed recommendation on what to trim; where to trim it and how to trim it.

“Utility companies need some one to check the work their tree crews are doing,” said Lawyer. “We provide an unbiased source to audit the results and follow up if needed.”

Lawyer said that part of ACRT’s process also is to handle customer “refusals.”

“We often go to the house when the customer is available, and talk to the owner and explain our process and why the work needs to be done,” Lawyer said. “We tell them that we only want to ensure that electrical service to the customer is not jeopardized by vegetation.”

”We explain to customers that in order to provide safe and reliable electricity, vegetation must be maintained, and explain how. Often, this extra effort will alleviate future refusals, making everyone happier.”

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