The sounds of chain saws will be more frequent across Wisconsin this year.

We Energies forestry crews are in the midst of a multiyear effort to trim back branches and remove trees along thousands of miles of power lines.

The goal is to prevent or lessen damage to electric equipment during severe weather. The vast majority of storm-related outages are caused when strong winds knock down trees or tree branches.

“We have seen more significant power outage events in the past five years than we did in the previous 40 years,” said Dave Megna, senior vice president — system and field operations at We Energies. “As Mother Nature brings more frequent and powerful storms, we are proactively working to protect our equipment. This effort will mean fewer power outages and quicker restoration times.”

Thanks to tens of millions of dollars in increased funding approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, crews are on pace to trim trees along more than 3,000 miles of power lines this year and to cut back or remove more than 10,000 “danger trees.”

Danger trees are dead or dying trees, often infected with emerald ash borer beetles, which can easily fall at any time. These danger trees can be 30 to 60 feet tall. Many are well outside the normal We Energies trim area, but when they fall onto power lines and equipment, they cause significant damage.

We Energies’ efforts to keep the lights on go beyond tree trimming. The company is also investing in a multiyear storm hardening effort to bury hundreds of miles of power lines and add high-tech equipment to power lines that reduce the impact of power outages.