BG&E needs a new policy on trees that threaten power lines

In my lovely old neighborhood of Lauraville, a diseased but still viable tree broke in half and took down a BG&E utility pole, plunging the neighborhood into darkness for a week.

Perhaps BG&E could dedicate some of the profits from its impending sale to an out-of-town conglomerate to helping Baltimore's financially strapped forestry unit prune or remove diseased trees in the city.

Such an investment would save the utility money in future storms — and there will be many — while sparing families from losing power for days.

This could be accomplished by helping the city inspect all trees adjacent to power lines, then underwriting the cost of pruning or removing them.

Chris Ryer, Baltimore