Vegetation Management Monthly Update

A crew from Sangre de Cristo Electric Association’s (SDCEA’s) vegetation management contractor Integrity Tree Service will continue to work in March between Mount Princeton Hot Springs west to St. Elmo.

Work is also scheduled to begin in March on clearing vegetation for the rebuild of the Tommy Young line. The Tommy Young line is 19 miles long and runs from Verdemont Road in Custer County north along CO 69, then to U.S. 50 via the Cotopaxi cutoff.

All electric services from the Howard substation are scheduled for vegetation management. It is possible the crew will move from the Tommy Young line to other areas served by the Howard substation as time and weather permits.

If you have questions about the program, please visit our Wildfire Mitigation and Vegetation Management page.

What is SDCEA’s Wildfire Mitigation Rate Rider?

The Wildfire Mitigation Rate Rider is assessed to consumer accounts to help pay for the costs of vegetation management around electric lines in our service territory. This rider allows SDCEA to help prevent the threat of catastrophic wildfire in our service territory caused by vegetation coming into contact with a line and igniting a wildfire.

The rider is billed to each service account, regardless of how much energy a consumer uses or where a consumer lives. This ensures everyone pays their fair share of the costs to clear lines of vegetation, regardless of the amount of energy they use.

The rate rider was enacted to respond to the immediate threat posed by vegetation growing into or around SDCEA’s electric lines. Rider revenue is earmarked only for Wildfire Mitigation. It cannot be used for any other purpose in SDCEA’s budget. Once lines are cleared in SDCEA’s territory, the rate will sunset and vegetation management reverts back to maintenance funding levels.

More information may be found about the rider on our Wildfire Mitigation and Vegetation Management page.