BGE Pruning, Trimming Trees in Westminster

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) will conduct routine tree and vegetation management along a nine-mile stretch of MD Route 140/Baltimore Blvd between Finksburg and Westminster in the coming months.

BGE's 115,000 volt electric transmission line runs parallel to MD Route 140 and serves more than 24,000 customers in northern Carroll County, according to a news release.

The maintenance includes removing trees or tree limbs that pose potential threats to the transmission line. Property owners impacted by the work will be notified in advance of work being done, according to BGE. 

Beginning in 2005, BGE began working with the local community and property owners to create and implement planting plans to encourage vegetation that would not affect the electric equipment. This has included planting new trees in locations where trees were slated for eventual removal and allowing replacement trees to mature, according to a news release.

In one stretch, more than 1,800 feet of Leyland Cypress, a fast-growing evergreen that can grow to heights of 50 feet or more and threaten electric lines, has been replaced by 1,800 feet of new, diverse-species trees, set off the electric transmission right of way and allowed to mature, according to a news release. 

For more information on BGE’s Tree and Vegetation Management Program visit www.bge.com/TreeCare.