By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Ameren officials say tree trimming would have done nothing to prevent the long power outage in Missouri and Illinois after the recent ice storm.
More than half a million Ameren customers in the two states lost power following the November 30 storm.
Ameren president and CEO Gary Rainwater says trimming does not prevent large trees from falling on lines.
"Trimming within the constraints of the easements simply doesn't address the problem with severe outages," Rainwater said. "Again, it gets back to no amount of tree trimming will be able to do that. Tree removal is the key."
But Rainwater says the company is not allowed to remove trees even those within easements.
However, in a report released just weeks before the ice storm, the Missouri Public Service Commission's staff recommended Ameren clear problem trees within the company's right-of-way.