Energy and Technology Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: SB-950
AN ACT CONCERNING THE REPLACEMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITY POLES
AND REVISING VEGETATION MANAGEMENT IN UTILITY PROTECTION
Title: ZONES.
Vote Date: 3/11/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable
PH Date: 3/4/2021
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Energy and Technology Committee
REASONS FOR BILL:
This bill would permit utilities to remove a tree that is in direct contact with an energized
electrical conductor without obtaining a tree warden permit or notifying private property
owners.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Marissa P. Gillett, Chairman (PURA) submits the following neutral testimony on SB 950:
Requested Modifications to Section 1, subsection (b)
o The Authority suggests adding the term person and municipality to ensure
the broadest applicability of the proposed statute to the various entities that may
occupy space on a utility pole. Specifically, the Authority recommends the
following:
o (b) Not later than ninety days after (1) the occurrence of an emergency
requiring the replacement of a public utility pole or (2) a preplanned
replacement of a public utility pole, each public service company, person, and
municipality shall place all lines, conduits, cables, wires and other equipment
owned or operated by such company, person, or municipality on the replaced
public utility pole.
Additionally, the Authority respectfully advises that, in certain circumstances, a utility
pole replacement may not occur at the time of the emergency event; rather, the
situation may be rendered safe and addressed further during a subsequent phase of
the restoration process
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Patrick McDonnell-Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for UIL Holdings Corporation
supports SB 950 with the following modifications:
We welcome efforts by the Energy & Technology Committee to help us find the right
balance between vegetation management to reduce outages and the cost and time
that a lengthy notification process can add to that work.
We believe this raised bill strikes an important balance of maintaining the infrastructure
at a reasonable cost while not impacting the character of our communities. This bill
would also improve our ability to maintain our infrastructure on the main roads where
three-phase main lines exist, but would not change the current requirements around
notice and permission in residential neighborhoods which are normally served by
single-phase circuits. In addition to the provisions of this bill, there may be
improvements needed in the definition of direct contact pruning that would clarify the
extent of direct contact pruning that the statute currently allows.
Richard E. Sobolewski, Acting Consumer Counsel supports SB 950 because The Bill
requires that not later than ninety days after an emergency that requires the replacement of a
utility pole or a preplanned replacement of a utility pole, each public service company shall
place all lines, conduits, cable, wires and other equipment owned or operated by such
company on the replaced public utility pole. (Sec. 1(b))
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
Chris Donnelly- Urban Forestry Coordinator-DEEP (retired) opposes lines 5660 of the
bill.This part of the bill would establish a new set of conditions by which utilities are given the
authority to prune or remove trees without obtaining a permit from the local Tree Warden or c
onsent from the abutting property owners.
William Carone-Tree Warden for the City of New Haven opposes sections 2 and 3 of this
bill which amend Section 16-234 C.G.S. This would eliminate requirements in the current law
to obtain a tree warden permit or notify property owners before pruning or removing a tree in
a utility protection zone in which three phase main electric distribution wires are located.
This would include a substantial portion of all distribution wires within a municipality.
Patrick M. Comins, Executive Director of the Connecticut Audubon Society opposes
sections 2 and 3 of this proposed law, these sections would amend Section 16-234 C.G.S. to
eliminate requirements in the current law to obtain a tree warden permit or notify property
owners before pruning or removing a tree in a utility protection zone in which "three phase
main" electric distribution wires are located. This would include a substantial portion of all
distribution wires within a municipality
The amendments would effectively give utilities unlimited power over these trees in the public
right-of-way, with no ability of tree wardens or property owners to prevent unnecessary
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removals, even clear cutting, and to prevent pruning that could be harmful to the health and
structural integrity of the trees
Heather Dionne-Chair of the Connecticut Urban Forest Council opposes SB 950
because it would take authority away from the Tree Wardens and abutting property owners.
This bill would also establish a conflict with the designated responsibility of the Tree Wardens
who are given care and control of municipal trees
Daniel FitzGerald: Chair-Branford Community Forestry Commission opposes SB 950
because with this bill in place, our town cannot plan to maintain the current state of forested
coverage we have giving the utility companies a blank check to remove trees as needed
Gregory Foran-Tree Warden for the Town of Glastonbury opposes SB 950, specifically
language in Section 3 that circumvents the permit process in place, whereby the utility
notifies the Tree Warden of its plans for ongoing line maintenance in advance and is
subsequently issued a permit
Maggie Redfern-President of New London Trees opposes SB 950, specifically Sections 2
and 3 that seeks to amend Section 16-234 C.G.S to change the requirement that utilities
notify property owners and town tree wardens prior to tree trimming on their property or in
their town
Reported by: Jason Snukis Date: March 28, 2021
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