The TVA has started to take a very aggressive approach to the clearing of vegetation throughout the width and length of their transmission line easements for nearly 16,000 miles through the 7 states served. They have never cleared trees and vegetation to the full extent of their easements in the past, and they tout a 99.999% reliability record. Clearing all the trees under the power lines and one and one-half times wider creates a stark and ugly scar on the landscape and aggravates problems with global warming, soil erosion, water runoff, and air quality. The private and commercial property owners who have trees felled by TVA have their property values reduced in addition to losing the trees that help provide a pleasant and beautiful environment.
While we share TVA's concerns about outages, safety dangers, and fines, their prior easement maintenance policies avoided all three, while respecting the rights of the property owners. TVA’s new transmission line clearing is indiscriminate and does not meet the legal requirements of easement maintenance to be reasonable and necessary. We ask that TVA stop clearing, revise their policy, and be a good neighbor in the 7 states in which they operate.