Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is trimming trees along more than 3,400 miles of power lines across its 13-county service territory, including in Lakewood, as part of its ongoing efforts to help enhance electric service reliability.

This comprehensive vegetation management program is designed to help keep power flowing to customers by helping to reduce tree-related outages, such as those that can occur during severe weather.

This year’s $32.5 million plan is the first of an annual $1.5 million increase in tree trimming agreed to as part of a settlement with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

JCP&L will also spend an additional $2.5 million for each of the next five years to further expand the tree-trimming zones along 18 high-priority circuits throughout their central and northern New Jersey service territory. These circuits were identified through historical outage data.

“Falling trees and branches are the number one cause of power outages for our customers in New Jersey,” JCP&L President Jim Fakult said in a statement. Our year-round tree-trimming efforts are one of the most effective proactive steps we can take to help ensure safe, reliable and affordable electric service to our customers, especially as we move into the summer storm season.”

Completed on a four-year cycle, JCP&L’s tree-trimming program includes inspecting vegetation near power lines to ensure trees are pruned in a manner that helps preserve the health of the tree while maintaining proper clearances around electrical equipment. Tree trimming is conducted by certified forestry contractors under the company’s direction.

Since January 1, contractors have trimmed trees along more than 638 miles of power lines, with a total of 3,419 miles expected to be completed by year end.

While JCP&L’s tree-trimming program is designed to lower the risk of tree-related outages, work is limited to company rights-of-way.

In 2023, 86% of tree-related outages in JCP&L’s service territory were caused by trees located outside of these rights of way. If you believe a tree poses a risk to power lines, you can report it on JCP&L’s website, and company foresters can assess the situation.