O&R Revises Transmission Tree Management Plan; More Flexible Approach Cuts Number of Trees Removed

PEARL RIVER, NY May 22, 2008 — Orange & Rockland announced today a revised transmission vegetation management plan that offers a more flexible approach to most of the company's electric transmission lines. The revised plan will result in fewer trees being removed from the rights-of-way and will strike a more "neighbor-friendly" balance between the important issues of aesthetics and service reliability.

Under this revised plan developed in consultation with the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) O&R will not remove trees in residential areas that do not interfere with the safe operation of the electric transmission system — and are not likely to do so in the future. Such trees will be trimmed rather than removed. The new approach applies to O&R's 138 kV, 69 kV and 35 kV transmission lines.

O&R has been briefing public officials and community leaders about details of the revised plan this week.

Under this more flexible approach, O&R will no longer remove all tall-growing species from the entire width of the rights-of-way, as it had been doing. Only those tall-growing or undesirable species that are directly underneath the transmission lines or have grown within close proximity to the wires will be removed.

All other healthy tall-growing species in the right-of-way will be removed only if property owners have agreed to have them removed. Otherwise, the vegetation will be left alone or trimmed back to specified clearances to eliminate the possibility of contact with the transmission lines.

As an example, a tall healthy oak tree rooted anywhere within the transmission line right-of-way would have been automatically removed under the company's existing plan. Under the revised plan, that tree will be allowed to remain on the right-of-way as long as it stays healthy, is not directly underneath the wires (a portion of the right-of-way called the "wire zone" — a width of typically 20 feet), and does not grow within close proximity to the suspended lines (a short distance — 14 feet for 138 kV — around the wires called the "priority zone").

For higher voltage transmission lines that are covered by federal vegetation management rules, any tree in a right-of-way that could fall over and contact a wire will be removed or topped to eliminate that risk.

Part of the revised plan also calls for O&R to improve the management, oversight and control of the contractors' work. An O&R representative will discuss the proposed work with each customer before it is done and will more closely supervise the contractor crews.

And, as part of the plan, O&R will communicate more clearly, more completely and more responsively with the residents about the scope, timing and anticipated results of the work.

In response to concerns in Bardonia and Blauvelt, vegetation maintenance work was temporarily halted on April 8.

During the ensuing period, O&R conducted a review of its program from top to bottom, including a survey of the actual work that had been done in the field. As a result, O&R found that the contractors hired by O&R did not perform up to O&R's standards.

O&R Vice President – Jim Tarpey said "The problems that developed here grew out of inadequate supervision by O&R of its contract work force and poor communication by O&R with its customers."

He added, "The Company takes full responsibility for the work errors made during this project. O&R apologizes for those errors and we will rectify the work mistakes that were made here."

O&R received seven complaints resulting from contractor work errors on private property during the earlier transmission right-of-way work. Specifically, those complaints were about trees, shrubs and bushes that were removed outside of the easement.

O&R has no authority to remove that vegetation, has acknowledged those errors and has promised to correct them. O&R already has met with the residents affected and is moving forward in this effort.

Tarpey said, "We also know that no matter how many enhancements we make, no matter how effectively we communicate, the fact remains that changes are in store for our customers abutting the transmission rights-of-way. We will never be able to satisfy everyone, but we will try our best through the flexibility offered in our newly-modified plan to address the needs of all our customers."