Get a Free Tree and Figure Out Where to Plant It

It is no secret that I hate our local power company, PEPCO.  They truly are one of the worst utilities in the region -- maybe in the country.  They even earned the label "Most Hated Company in America" earlier this year!!!  And they seem to be ripping consumers off so as to pay big dividends to their investors.  I have spent many a storm in heat and snow awaiting their repair crews after outages, and I have railed many times at their terrible customer service, which often reads like a scene from the classic book Catch-22.

Pepco has also earned my ire due to over-aggressive tree trimming and removal this year.  I suspect they are out there with those noisy chain saws killing our street trees because it will make them appear more reliable.

I have been told numerous times by energy watchdogs in my neighborhood that the real problem is not trees but rather a lack of long term investment in upgrades to infrastructure.  Simply put:  my one neighbor says that according to reports he's heard and seen the company hasn't kept up with replacing old transformers for new ones and now the problem has become evident in the form of mysterious power outages during light storms and sometimes on sunny days with no wind.

I don't know what to make of those accusations but I will say there are many times when walking the dog on sunny days I can literally hear the transformers hum when a small wind blows, and at night we sometimes see them flash for no reason, which is a bit like being in a movie with Vincent Price .  We make jokes about turning on our porch lights and expecting to see him laughing MAWAhahahahah  in our front yard when those green eerie flashes begin...

But.

Pepco is giving away free trees so what the hell.  I'd say if you want a tree go for it.  At least they are doing something good for a change.

I have to say, however, that this free tree business seems suspiciously like greenwashing, given accusations from the Montgomery Countryside Alliance earlier this summer.  (Those photos are awful!!!!)  And of course the benefits of properly maintaining a mature tree far outweigh those of planting new ones... so I wish they had left some of the trees in this county alone when they went out there trying to prove they were finally paying attention to the wires.

But again, a free tree is a free tree and times are tight.

Plus, when you register to get one they let you play with some cool planting software online which will help consumers plant the right tree in the right spot, as they say.  That's a good thing, since so many people forget to account for utilities when they plant because they don't realize how big trees can get.

So go for it.

Just know that when that tree gets big you might have to guard against Pepco's aggressive trimming tactics, even if you do plant it in the right spot.