PHILADELPHIA (February 4, 2016) – PECO customers in eastern Delaware County will benefit from a  $2.7 million vegetation management investment to trim trees and remove vegetation along 300 miles of aerial electric lines. This work, currently underway, will be completed by the end of April and will improve electric service for more than 50,000 customers.

Specifically, work will occur in Darby, Marple, Nether Providence, Ridley, Springfield and Upper Darby townships and Aldan, Collingdale, Darby, Folcroft, Glenolden, Morton, Norwood, Prospect Park, Ridley Park, Rutledge, Sharon Hill and Swarthmore boroughs.

“Vegetation growth causes about 20 percent of all electric outages,” said John McDonald, vice president of Technical Services. “Our aggressive vegetation management program has helped us reduce vegetation-related outages by more than 50 percent during the last five years and is vital to safely keeping the lights on for our customers.”

Each year, PECO invests approximately $500 million to enhance its electric infrastructure, including preventive maintenance and equipment upgrades. As part of this work, PECO will invest about $42 million in vegetation management work around approximately 3,500 miles of aerial electric lines in 2016.

PECO’s vegetation management crews are trained in arboricultural techniques as defined in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A300 Standard. This standard takes into account the type and location of the tree, its relation to overhead equipment and overall health of the tree. Customers are notified before work begins in their area. 

For more information, call 1-800-494-4000 or visit peco.com and click on the Trees and Powerlines link under the Customer Service / Service Request tab on the home page.

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Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC). The company’s 2,400 dedicated employees provide advanced, innovative energy solutions to 1.6 million electric and more than 506,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2014 PECO delivered 89.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 37.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and had an estimated economic impact of $4.5 billion in Pennsylvania, supporting more than 9,600 local jobs and producing $760 million in labor income.  Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations. For more information visit PECO.com, and connect with the company on Facebook and Twitter.

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