We Energies, Franklin tree removal partnership to reduce outage risk

FRANKLIN, Wis. - The city of Franklin and We Energies teamed up on Wednesday to take down trees that could cause a power outage.

We Energies crews trimmed overgrown trees and large branches along 68th Street and Rawson Avenue. After the branches were trimmed back, Franklin Public Works employees were able to cut the trees down and remove them.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

"We're going to eliminate or greatly reduce this huge risk of having downed wires on a storm night, which nobody wants," said Franklin Mayor John Nelson. "Now we can look at it and say look, we've done our due diligence, we've cleared the ways, we've made it clear, we've made it safer, and we partnered with an entity, We Energies, which is also giving us a cost savings measure."

It is a first-of-its-kind effort between the utility company and one of the communities it serves, We Energies said – "reducing costs, minimizing impact to residents and drivers, and improving electric reliability." The project started in mid-September and is expected to wrap up this month.

We Energies partners with the city of Franklin to clear trees from around power lines

"One of the best ways we can prevent outages during storms is to trim trees and branches away from our power lines," Dave Megna, We Energies vice president of field operations, said in a news release "This program goes even further. Since the city is fully removing the trees, customers in the area should see improved reliability — even during severe weather. This is a great partnership that we think can be replicated across the state."

We Energies said it currently performs forestry work along more than 1,000 miles of power lines each year. The company has presented a plan to regulators that would more than double that work in 2025 and 2026