If powerline right of way is not granted to a company and is left unaddressed, the repercussions faced can be costly and deathly. Poorly maintained vegetation can allow for electricity outages, wildfires, soil erosion and more. These certain events can damage electric power infrastructures, which result in environmental and national security consequences. Whether it is due to a storm, or interference with the transmission and distribution of the powerlines, one of the most common causes of electricity blackouts in the United States are due to the vegetation interference of overgrown trees.
Integrated vegetation management is the practice of promoting desirable, stable, low-growing plant communities that will resist interference between tall-growing species as well as the powerline right of way, using appropriate environmentally cost-effective methods. It is more cost effective to not only manage but produce low-growing vegetation because there is less of a requirement of maintenance then there is to continuously manage high-growing vegetation. The less electrical outages happening in the U.S., the more the economy can save money. If the Board of Public Utilities comes across a utility failure, a fine of $100 to $25,000 a day can take place, coming to a maximum penalty of $2 million.
Other than the aesthetic, powerline reclamation is primarily beneficial to land reclamation because it is safer for the people that surround that specific area of the right of way. Those who work, live, or play in rural areas consisting of being around a lot of trees that are closer to powerlines risk higher chances of severe injury or even death due to being in electric contact, than those who live in more populated and urban areas. Not only does it become a safer habit for humans, but it becomes a habitat suitable for animals that live and contribute to our environment.