ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Trimming trees and keeping power lines clear is a job performed all year-long, but following a destructive hurricane season, more work needs to be done. It’s necessary care that is helping prevent any potential hazards in the future.

On the residential streets of St. Petersburg, a team of Duke Energy contractors trimmed back a row of trees on Tuesday.

“This is part of our routine maintenance that we do throughout the year,” said Tamron Fernandez, the manager of distribution vegetation management for Duke Energy. “We do about 5,000 miles of trimming a year. We’ve got about 23,000 miles of line across the state ... so it’s a constant program to make sure that we’re maintaining these lines from the vegetation.”

Fernandez and crews are accustomed to performing this type of work, noting potential hazards year-round.

“During these previous hurricanes, trees and flying debris from trees were the leading cause for outages,” said Fernandez. “But because of the work we did ahead of time, we can also see a reduced impact from the storms on the areas that we’ve been working.”

It’s also a chance for crews to pass along some helpful tips, like educating homeowners about where to plant trees to avoid them coming in contact with power lines.

“That goes a long way to reducing the costs and allowing us to provide more reliable and safe electricity,” said Fernandez.

Crews are currently visiting all of their three-phase lines throughout the state, inspecting those areas for hazardous trees.

“Before June 1, we’re going to mitigate any of those hazard trees to ensure they’re gone prior to hurricane season,” said Fernandez.

In recognition of Florida Arbor Day, Duke Energy will be giving away 1,000 free trees to its customers this Friday.

The trees will be shipped directly to homes with planting and care instructions, delivered just in time for National Arbor Day in April.