By keeping vegetation away from our power lines, poles and substations, we help to prevent power outages and make the communities we serve safer places to live. Our electricity distribution and transmission subsidiaries use nationally approved, environmentally sound techniques and procedures to maintain trees and other vegetation near those facilities.

Because we use herbicides, we actively participate in the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program, a voluntary
partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help users of pesticides and herbicides reduce their environmental impact.

Our use of herbicides is part of an Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) program for our transmission rights-of-way. IVM produces a stable, low-growing plant community that not only improves access, worker safety and the reliability of our electricity transmission; it provides the grass and shrubs to support a diverse wildlife. Our rights-of-way management programme preserves and enhances the habitat for small mammals, songbirds, insects, turkeys, raptors and other species.