ECI’s practical and highly applicable vegetation management research has set us apart from our competition. Our experience in managing multi-disciplinary teams and focusing research on real questions that practitioners need answers to, has generated value above and beyond other more traditional research organizations.
ECI has conducted over 50 research projects related to vegetation management for groups such as Empire State Electric Energy Research Company (ESEERCO) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), as well as proprietary research for client utilities. Full List of Project Bibliographies
ECI has conducted numerous environmental studies, including wetlands studies, herbicide use studies, environmental impact statements (EIS) for right-of-way management and Tree Growth Regulator (TGR) use, and buffer zone effectiveness studies.
Research into how trees cause outages and the practical application of the findings have enabled many utilities to completely shift maintenance paradigms, saving them millions of dollars and significantly improve electric service reliability.
The Economic Impacts of Deferring Electric Utility Tree Maintenance study completed by ECI continues to be widely used to assess the impact of vegetation management program budget reductions as well as increases.
ECI’s ongoing Green Lane Research Demonstration Project in Pennsylvania, begun in 1987, is a long-term, continuous study that examines the impacts of various right-of-way vegetation management techniques.