The Utility Vegetation Management Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the UVM Podcast, hosts Nick and Steve sit down with Dennis Fallon, Executive Director of the Utility Arborist Association (UAA), to discuss the highly anticipated Trees & Utilities Conference. This year’s event will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, from September 10th to September 12th, and it’s shaping up to be one of the largest gatherings yet. Dennis shares his excitement about the record-breaking attendance expected this year and expresses his gratitude for the hard work behind the scenes that’s making this event possible.

The discussion highlights the many aspects that make Trees & Utilities the must-attend event in the industry, including valuable networking opportunities, the sold-out vendor showcase, and the highly anticipated Annual Awards Dinner. The hosts and Dennis agree that what truly sets this conference apart is the camaraderie and knowledge-sharing that takes place throughout the week. Nick also mentions that he’ll be putting on an Oktoberfest celebration with US and German colleagues at the conference, so be sure to find him for some pretzels and steins of beer!

As they talk about the Annual Awards Dinner, the conversation turns to a heartfelt tribute to Dan Marsh, a former Lifetime Achievement Award winner and industry legend, who sadly passed away last week. Dennis, Nick, and Steve reflect on Dan’s contributions to the field and remember him as a true professional and gentleman.

Finally, Dennis encourages all attendees to download the Conference App before the event and to provide feedback through the event survey to help the team continue delivering an exceptional experience year after year.

Later in the episode, Steve is joined by Brian Eubanks, a U.S. Navy veteran and active member of the UVM industry, to discuss Saluting Branches and their upcoming day of service. Saluting Branches is a nonprofit organization founded by arborists to honor and assist veterans by providing tree care services at national cemeteries and other veteran properties. This year’s annual event will take place on Wednesday, September 18th.

Brian shares the mission of Saluting Branches and explains why his role as the site leader for the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery is so meaningful to him. He emphasizes the importance of giving back to those who have served and encourages listeners to get involved.

For more information on how to participate in Saluting Branches, visit https://www.salutingbranches.org/ 

For more information on Trees and Utilities, visit https://www.treesandutilities.org/agenda.cfm. 

In this episode, Steve is joined by a very special, and tough, guest co-host in Nick’s absence. The episode kicks off with Steve’s co-host sharing an update on all of the amazing work they have been doing since they last spoke. Once Steve and his co-host are caught up, they are joined by Professor Lawrence J.  Kahn. Larry is an adjunct professor at Tulane University and Co-founder of the Utility Vegetation Management Institute (UVMI). This is the fourth episode, in a planned series of discussions with Professor Kahn, where we hope to raise issues worthy of consideration and debate in the UVM industry. 

Professor Kahn begins with an exciting update on what is going on with UVMI including a sneak peek at the upcoming UVMI Conference and a brief update on the progress being made to secure an esteemed collection of UVMI Expert Advisors. 

Larry then delves into his work supporting California’s Wildfire Safety Advisory Board (WSAB), highlighting his involvement in leading a scoping meeting that contributed to the WSAB's recent recommendations to the state, which were subsequently adopted. The conversation explores various WSAB recommendations, such as standardized terminology and the necessity for further studies on wildfire prevention in California.

Finally, the group discusses the importance of equitable cost-sharing among utility providers to bolster wildfire prevention efforts.

RESOURCES
Here is the URL for the WSAB’s publication: https://energysafety.ca.gov/news/2024/02/07/wsab-adopts-policy-paper-recommendations/

In this episode we discuss the “the demarcation issue” with Larry Kahn, the Distinguished Research Fellow at Tulane Law School’s UVMI. This is the second episode, in a planned series of discussions with Larry, where we hope to raise issues worthy of consideration and debate in the UVM industry. 

During this episode Larry, Steve and Nick explain and discuss the demarcation issue and present ideas to reduce outages, fires and accidents. As with the Rule of 70 episode, this is an important to the UVM industry.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.

A note to listeners: this episode was recorded in early August. Senate Bill 396 in California was quashed in late August. We decided to run the episode anyway on the basis that we feel Demarcation is an important topic and SB 396 is a useful case study.

**CEUs Available ** Visit the UAA website and click on quizzes or click this link. https://member.gotouaa.org/surveys/?id=Demarcation_Podcast 

What is the cradle to grave asset lifecycle, and how do different forms of remote sensing come into play? Is satellite the ‘silver bullet’ of the remote sensing world that will entirely replace LiDAR or is the picture more nuanced than that? 

Steve and Nick are joined by Subject Matter Experts from LiveEO (Tony Palizzi), NV5 Geospatial (Jacob Hall) and Planet (Paulina Zubatov) to unpack the asset life cycle and examine, through a remote sensing lens, how geospatial technology can support each stage.

The NPR Podcast with Planet's founders that was mentioned during this recording can be found here. The NPR episode doesn't cover vegetation management but does provide interesting further context on the drivers of the NewSpace revolution.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.

In this episode we discuss the “Rule of 70” with Larry Kahn, the Distinguished Research Fellow at Tulane Law School’s UVMI. This is the first episode, in a planned series of discussions with Larry, where we hope to raise issues worthy of consideration and debate in the UVM industry. 

During this episode Larry, Steve and Nick explain what the Rule of 70s is and why it may be one of the most important metrics a Utility Arborist needs to track. 

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.

In this episode (and at the suggestion of one of our subscribers- thanks Eric Owens at CNUC!) we interview Lewis Payne from the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the largest state-owned utility in the United States. Lewis (Lew) Payne is the Manager ROW/Environmental and a well-respected 30+ year veteran in the Transmission UVM industry. 

During this thoughtful discussion, Lew discusses his work on a variety of topics ranging from pollinator habitat and IVM, to the way the transmission industry was influenced by the August 14, 2003 Northeast Blackout.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.

A big thank you to this episode's sponsor, LiveEO.

**CEUs Available ** Visit the UAA website and click on quizzes or click this link. https://member.gotouaa.org/surveys/?id=UVM_Ep_19

In this episode we interview Eliecer Viamontes, the recently appointed President and CEO of Entergy Texas. Entergy serves about 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and they are no strangers to Utility Vegetation Management or the implications of tree and power line conflicts. 

During this inspiring discussion Eliecer not only outlines current priorities and accomplishments of Entergy Texas, he talks about his own background and experiences in running UVM programs. You heard that right, he is a utility company CEO that actually understands UVM and recognizes the value of our collective work. For those of us new to the UVM profession, Eliecer provides some great career advice. For those of us that are longer in the tooth, it’s about time that we moved an experienced UVM person into the C suite.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast valuable and insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.

In this episode we interview Steve Martin from Powerlink Queensland. Steve is the Senior Strategist for Land, Research and Development for Powerlink and works out of the greater Brisbane area of Australia.  

During this lively down-under discussion, Steve and the podcast hosts discuss a wide array of issues ranging from animal grazing on transmission ROWs to managing our UVM workloads as an asset - not a liability. It is also another episode where “the tyranny of distance” plays a role in UVM and bushfire mitigation (note: you can listen to earlier episodes with our other Australian guests if you don’t understand the reference – it’s a term that would apply to all large IOU UVM programs). 

During the conversation, Nick mentioned an article he wrote on harnessing the best elements of LIDAR (as-built surveys for ratings confirmation) with the best of satellite technology (monitoring vegetation to inform clearances, health and species). The article can be found here.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful and entertaining. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.

A big thank you to this episode's sponsor, LiveEO.

In this episode we interview Teri French, Vice President, Forestry Services, and Patrick Howe, Vegetation Management Front Line Manager at Hydro One. In this thoughtful discussion, Teri and Patrick talk about running an in-house UVM program in Canada’s most populous province, Ontario. Hydro One is a utility that is committed to operating safely in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. 

During this discussion we cover several topics including:

• Hydro One’s unique and comprehensive in-house operations
• Hydro One’s approach to scheduling work across its massive and diverse territory
• Advice for young UVM professionals
• The importance of safety in UVM operations
• Hydro One’s approach and predictions for UVM related technology

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.

A big thank you to this week's episode sponsor LiveEO.

In this episode we interview Matt Palmer, Vegetation Specialist - Standards, at Ergon Energy Network and Energex, part of the Energy Queensland group.  

Ergon Energy Network and Energex are distribution service providers that together deliver approximately 35,000 GWh of electricity right across Queensland to around 2.3 million customers. The network consists of more than 178,000 km of overhead powerlines and 29,000 km of underground power cables. 

During this discussion we cover several topics including:

• System configuration 
• The unique geographical challenges posed by Queensland
• The tyranny of distance when working with such a remote distribution system
• Regulation for utilities in Queensland
• Vegetation work zones, cycle times and optimum intervention time
• The impact of El Nino and La Nina climatic patterns 
• Bushfires in the Queensland context
• Safe working practices

 We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at podcast@utilityvegetationmanagement.com.