Kentucky Utilities (KU) is considering halting its controversial tree cutting policy, which has cut down hundreds of trees under their transmission wires over the past seven years.
In 2014, Kentucky Utilities implemented a policy calling to remove trees taller than ten feet under their major transmission lines in rural areas. A similar policy went into effect in 2019 for urban areas. Previously, trees around the wires had been trimmed rather than removed.
The policy led to an outcry from Lexington city leaders and homeowners alike. At a Lexington council meeting on Oct. 19, dozens of residents asked the utility company to modify their policy or go back to trimming altogether.
“More than 200 trees will be cut down under one of the power lines,” Lakeside resident Rob Walker told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “It’s going to denigrate our neighborhood. There are even shrubs under 15 feet tall that KU has said need to be cut.”
Bobby Owens, a resident of the same area, said that KU redid the poles in Lakeside in 2007, after which they gave the neighborhood money to replenish the vegetation. Now he claims KU wants to remove that same vegetation.
Norborne Drive resident Matt Harrison says the policy will soon remove 11 to 12 trees from his property. “I will only get $250 per tree and will only be compensated for six trees,” Harrison told the Herald-Leader. “This seems to be a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton met with KU officials on Oct. 18, asking them to consider a compromise on the policy, implement a re-vegetation program, and notify residents better.
“I personally believe that in most cases, we don’t have to cut down these trees,” Gorton told the Herald-Leader. “But we don’t have local authority or oversight over KU.”
David Freibert, vice president of external relations at KU, said the company would consider the community’s proposals but made no promises. “We have heard the request for flexibility and review,” Freibert said. “We will be taking that back and looking at those programs.”
