SEC Rights-of-Way Management

In SEC’s commitment to providing our members with safe and reliable electricity, your Cooperative conducts rights-of-way tree trimming to reduce outages caused by trees and vegetation growth. Where crews are trimming, our certified arborists also look for hazard trees that need to be removed.

Updated technology, new and innovative safety practices, equipment, tools and methods are incorporated into SEC’s rights-of-way program and become standards, also known as industry best practices. The Cooperative adopts these standards as they evolve, all to increase reliability and improve efficiency. One of these technologies, while not new to the industry, is aerial trimming.

SEC first implemented aerial trimming in 2015, then again in 2018 and it continues today. Aerial trimming is an efficient way to cut limbs overhanging power lines that are higher than standard bucket trucks can reach or are not accessible with equipment. The only other way to remove those overhanging limbs is to climb each tree and piece down those limbs using ropes. It is a slow process and puts personnel at a greater risk by climbing to heights of up to 100 feet.

The helicopter uses a detachable saw hanging 130 feet below to remove overhang and trim back vegetation. It is an efficient and cost-effective solution to trimming, providing many years of power lines being free from overhang.

For 85 years, Southside Electric Cooperative lineworkers have worked tirelessly, often in harsh elements, to empower better lives. Since 1937, Cooperative lineworkers have provided the skills and dedication to keep electricity flowing to members' homes, farms and businesses. Nothing they do is easy, but their commitment allows all of us to have a higher quality of life. On Monday, April 11, SEC salutes our lineworkers on National Lineworker Appreciation Day. We hope you will deliver a shout-out to them as well!

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Board of Directors adopted a resolution in 2014 naming the second Monday in April as National Lineworker Appreciation Day. This year, that falls on April 11.

Photographed above is Northern District Line Technician Will Southworth pulling line.

Photographed are (top right) Western District Operations Supervisor Kinte Robinson, (top left) Central District Line Technician Supervisor Tony Kemp, (bottom left) Eastern District Line Technician Daniel Boney and (bottom right) Central District Line Technician Adam Schutt.

Spring Into Safety

Spring is in the air and that means more than just a change

of season for farmers. During the busy planting season,

follow these eight safety tips.

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SEC Lobbies Open

Southside Electric Cooperative welcomes members back to the lobbies at its offices in Altavista, Crewe, Dinwiddie and Powhatan. The lobbies will once again be open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., returning to our members another option to transact business with SEC. Lobbies were closed in March 2020 as a safety precaution against COVID-19. SEC made the reopening decision after seeing cases continue to decline across America and restrictions continue to be relaxed or dropped.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, your Cooperative has adapted to the environment, and members have been able to speak with a member service representative by calling 1-800-552-2118 or at one of the drive-thru windows. They have also been able to check on their accounts online and by using one of the 24/7 payment kiosks.