This summer’s hot temperatures and low rainfall are expected to weaken trees, which could lead to power outages.
Utility parent Eversource said its crews are working to identify stressed trees near power lines, which can often be spotted by early changes in leaf color and shedding of leaves and branches, it said.
This is expected to be the hottest year on record, and Connecticut has experienced drought conditions in two of the past three years, which Eversource said can have a cumulative impact on trees.
“It appears more trees are failing,” said Sean Redding, Eversource’s manager of vegetation management in Connecticut. “We have seen incidents where trees or branches fell onto power lines when the weather was nice. That’s because the root systems that anchor the trees have been compromised by the extended drought.”
The company plans to spend $68 million on tree trimming this year.
